The latest CFTC Commitments of Traders (COT) report, covering positions as of May 19, 2026 and published May 22, shows a broad reduction in exposure by non-commercial traders across U.S. Treasury futures, S&P 500 futures, and major currency pairs.
Rather than rotating decisively into bullish or bearish bets, large speculators appear to be de-risking: trimming both long and short positions. That pattern points to a deliberate pullback in overall exposure instead of a one-sided directional trade.
Key datapoint: the S&P 500 speculative net position stood at -140.6K contracts, slightly less negative than the prior week’s -143.8K. That shift represents a change of roughly 3,200 contracts and reflects smaller positions on both sides of the ledger.
Similar activity was visible in Treasury and currency markets, where dealers and non-commercial accounts reduced long and short holdings at the same time. The CFTC’s weekly snapshot does not attribute these moves to cryptocurrencies—this report covers traditional futures and options markets.
Full disaggregated tables, including futures-only and futures-and-options splits, are available on the CFTC’s website. The next COT release will report positions through May 26.
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