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Directly from cftc.gov — the official regulator. Every Friday the CFTC releases the Commitments of Traders report. COTInsight fetches and processes both the Disaggregated and Financial Traders formats, covering 475+ markets across energy, metals, grains, softs, livestock, FX, equity indices, rates, and crypto. No data vendor is involved.

The CFTC publishes data as of each Tuesday's close, released on the following Friday afternoon (US Eastern time). COTInsight refreshes automatically on Friday evening and the updated analysis is available within hours of the CFTC release.

The z-score measures how extreme speculative net positioning is relative to the past 52 weeks. A z-score above +1.5 (or below −1.5) means speculators are near a 52-week extreme — a level many traders treat as a contrarian signal. Alerts fire at this threshold and are visible across the heatmap and instrument list. Whether extremes actually revert depends on the instrument and context; the historical outcome stats (Ultimate) let you evaluate the actual track record.

The COT Index (0–100) shows where current net speculative positioning sits within its 3-year range — a percentile rank, not a directional forecast. A reading near 0 means positioning is close to a 3-year low; near 100 means close to a 3-year high. It complements the z-score by providing longer-term context on how stretched positioning is relative to recent history.

Each instrument is assigned one of eight regime labels based on z-score level, momentum, and flow direction: Extreme Long, Building Long, Distributing, Flip Zone, Neutral, Accumulating, Building Short, or Extreme Short. Regime detection captures both the magnitude and the direction of positioning change, not just the absolute level.

Divergence fires when price and speculative positioning move in opposite directions over a 12-week window — for example, price rising while speculative exposure is being reduced (Bearish Divergence), or price falling while specs accumulate (Bullish Divergence). It is one of nine analytical outputs computed per instrument, alongside z-score, COT Index, momentum, regime, OI trend, small-spec extreme, participant breakdown, and historical outcomes.

For each instrument that has a price series, Ultimate subscribers see a table of historical forward-return outcomes broken down by seven z-score buckets:

• z ≥ 2.0 — extreme spec long
• 1.5 ≤ z < 2.0 — strong spec long
• 0.5 ≤ z < 1.5 — mild spec long
• −0.5 ≤ z < 0.5 — neutral
• −1.5 ≤ z < −0.5 — mild spec short
• −2.0 ≤ z < −1.5 — strong spec short
• z < −2.0 — extreme spec short

For each bucket, the table shows the win rate and average % return at three forward horizons: 4 weeks, 8 weeks, and 12 weeks (measured in COT release weeks from the signal date). "Win" uses contrarian logic — a spec-long extreme wins if price falls over the forward window; a spec-short extreme wins if price rises. N = number of historical observations in that bucket.

Stats are computed from the full available history (up to 16 years for major instruments) where a price series exists. Instruments without a mapped price ticker show no outcome data. This reflects actual past data only — it is descriptive, not a forecast or guarantee of future results. Always apply your own judgment.

The CFTC publishes two disaggregated COT datasets for commodity markets: one that combines futures and options positions, and one that covers only outright futures. By default, COTInsight uses the combined report — which captures the full institutional footprint. The Futures Only toggle (available to Ultimate subscribers) switches commodity markets to the futures-only dataset, letting you strip out options positioning and focus purely on directional futures commitment.

This matters most in heavily optioned markets like crude oil, gold, corn, and coffee, where options hedging books can skew the combined picture. Financial markets (FX, indices, rates, crypto) always show futures-only data since the CFTC does not publish a combined version for those instruments — they are unaffected by the toggle.

The forward curve shows the full price structure across up to 24 monthly futures contracts — revealing whether the market is in contango (deferred contracts priced higher than nearby) or backwardation (deferred contracts priced lower), with an automatic structure label and front-to-back slope percentage.

The view includes:
• Term structure chart — the curve shape with the most-liquid (highest-volume) contract marked. A ghost line shows how the curve has shifted since the last refresh when that data is available.
• Contract table — per-contract Last price, daily Chg%, High, Low, Open Interest, and Volume across all active delivery months.
• Calendar spreads — every consecutive month-pair spread (e.g. Jul→Aug, Aug→Sep) shown as absolute and percentage values, color-coded by sign.

In VS comparison mode, both forward curves are overlaid on the same chart — normalized to the front-month price so the structural shape of two correlated markets can be compared directly. The status line also shows the raw front-price spread and slope differential between the two instruments (e.g. WTI vs Brent, Gold vs Silver).

19 available markets:
Energy: WTI Crude Oil · Brent Crude Oil · Natural Gas · RBOB Gasoline
Metals: Gold · Silver · Copper · Platinum
Grains: Corn · Soybeans · Chicago Wheat · KC Wheat · Soybean Oil
Softs: Cotton · Sugar · Coffee · Cocoa
Livestock: Live Cattle · Lean Hogs

Curve data is fetched live from exchange prices and cached for four hours. At least 3 active monthly contracts are required; instruments with insufficient liquidity return no data.

No. Your 7-day trial gives full dashboard access to all 475+ instruments, 10-year history, and every signal, with no payment information required at signup. CSV export is included but limited during the trial (the most-traded markets are excluded); the full CSV report covering every market is available on Pro and Ultimate. PDF reports, AI commentary, outcome stats, full historical archive, and API access are Ultimate features not included in the trial. You'll only be asked for billing details if you decide to subscribe.

Access ends. There is no degraded free tier — COTInsight requires an active subscription after the trial. Subscribe to Pro or Ultimate at any time to restore access.

Yes. Open Account → Upgrade and the change happens instantly. You pay only the proportional difference for the time remaining on your current billing period — nothing more. Your next renewal date and billing cycle do not change.

Yes. Downgrade through the billing portal. You keep Ultimate access until the end of your current paid period, then renew at the Pro rate. Downgrades do not entitle you to any partial refund for unused time.

You pay for 10 months up front and get 12 months of access — equivalent to 2 months free. Pro annual is $290/yr (~$24/mo); Ultimate annual is $490/yr (~$41/mo). The full amount is charged once at signup and again at each annual renewal.

Cancel from the billing portal at any time — no hoops, no waiting. Access continues until the end of your current paid period. We do not offer partial refunds on active subscription periods.

After subscribing to Ultimate, go to Account settings and enter your TradingView username. You'll be added to the indicator's invite-only access list within 24 hours. Once approved, search for COTInsight — COT Dashboard in TradingView's Indicators menu and add it to any weekly chart — up to three times for all three panels.

The indicator reads TradingView's built-in CFTC COT data series (no external connection required) and computes z-score, COT Index, momentum, regime, OI trend, divergence, and streak using the same algorithm as the dashboard. It auto-detects your chart symbol and maps it to the correct CFTC series for 50+ instruments. If your subscription lapses, your TV access is removed.

Works on any TradingView plan, including the free tier.

Read the full indicator guide →

Free trial: a limited CSV export. The most-traded markets are excluded (you still see every market in the dashboard). Pro and above: the full CSV export of all current weekly results across every market, including every signal field. Ultimate additionally unlocks: PDF briefing reports, full historical archive ZIP (up to 16 years of weekly history per instrument), VS instrument comparison, and REST API access for programmatic integration.

Your personal API key and a full integration guide — including curl and Python examples — are available inside the app under Account → API Key once you subscribe to Ultimate. The key is permanent and unique to your account.

No. COTInsight is an informational data tool only. The signals and statistics are derived from public CFTC data and do not constitute investment advice, trading recommendations, or financial guidance of any kind. Read the Risk Disclaimer before trading.

475+ instruments across 9 categories: Energy, Metals, Grains, Softs, Livestock, FX, Equity Indices, Rates, and Crypto. Coverage spans all major CFTC-reported futures plus LME base metals.

Yes. LME positioning data for Aluminium, Copper, Zinc, Nickel, Lead, Tin, and Cobalt is included in the Metals category alongside COMEX/NYMEX precious and base metals.