Speculators continue to look for a long of a currency other than the USD, although they remain net long the USD by 128,801 contracts.  This is the smallest long they have had in the USD since the COT report of 02 28 2012.  At that time they were long 88,961 contracts of USD versus another of our reported currencies.

During the most recent reporting period (they end on a Tuesday) the big shift was in the British pound.  The OI climbed 10% to 179,211 contracts and both the commercials and the large specs flipped positions. with the specs jumping on the long side of the pound.  The net shift in the pound from short to long by the specs was above 31K.  The bottom line in this trade is the buying of the pound and the selling of the USD.

We note the persistent buying of the pound has resulted the pound trading higher versus the USD for 10 days in a row, prior to today.  This is a very unusual phenomenon, one that often precedes increased volatility.

The largest short positions were in the euro, and the yen at 157K and 93K respectively.  There were small reductions in both positions from the preceding period.

• US Dollar Index:  There was a small drop in the OI as the large specs made modest reductions in their long USD positions.  The large spec remains a 2.5 ratio long.  Small specs decreased their net long by 1.2K but remained better than a 3 ratio long.
• Euro (EUR/USD):  The OI remains quite large but there was little change in the positions of the players.  The large specs remain better than a 4 ratio short.  The total spec short was down slightly but remained 151K.  Spreading (option trade) remains 9.5% of the total OI.
• British Pound Sterling (GBP/USD):  The trading interest in the pound continues to grow, up 17.7K contracts or almost 10%.  The large spec flipped to the long side of the pound following the lead of the small spec who bought in the previous week.  The total spec long in the pound is only 22K.  On the other side of the spec buying in the pound was the commercial, who flipped from the long side to the short side of the pound.
• Japanese Yen (JPY/USD):   Specs remain firmly committed to the short side of the yen.  Combined they hold 87.4K down from 93.K in the previous period.
• Swiss Franc (CHF/USD):  The large spec is about a 5 ratio short in the SF, increasing his position during the period.
• Canadian Dollar (CAD/USD):  Both size specs bought the C$, and reduced their shorts.  The result was about a 9.5 increase in the spec long of the C$, taking the long up to 67.8K.
• New Zealand Dollar (NZD/USD):  There was about a 20% reduction in the OI of this very small market.  Most of the trade contraction was the large spec who was reducing his Kiwi long.
• Australian Dollar (AUD/USD):  Both large and small specs stopped building their long position in the Aussie.  The OI went down a few contracts, mostly caused by the specs who shed 7.8K contracts.  Large specs remain about a 2.5 ratio long.

To view the COT report released by the CFTC please see the attached file.

For general information about the COT report please see the article The CFTC Commitment of Trader Report