COT PositionThe report is usually released on Friday, the position of the previous Tuesday. Friday is information release day, and Tuesday is a general data statistics day, with different purposes. Readers cannot assert based on the report seen on Friday that market participants still held exactly the same positions on that day.

Why are Tuesday's positions only announced on Friday

The official statement from CFTC states that reports are typically based on holdings at the end of Tuesday's business. After receiving the data from the reporting agency, regulatory agencies need to verify and process it before releasing it on Friday. This process gives the data clear statistical boundaries, but it also means that it is not a real-time bin display.

Under normal circumstances, the release time is 3:30 PM Eastern Time on Friday. Government holidays or other arrangements may change the actual schedule, so 'fixed release every Friday' should be understood as a general rule. When setting a week, Chater should check the official calendar and announcements instead of using last week's reminders.

Converting to Beijing time requires changing the date

When the Eastern United States adopts daylight saving time, it is 12 hours later than Beijing time; When using standard time, it is 13 hours late. Therefore, the normal release at 15:30 on Friday corresponds to 03:30 or 04:30 on Saturday Beijing time.

The conversion here is based on the release time point, not changing the report statistics date to Saturday Beijing time. The server time of the market software may also vary. If the screenshot only says' Friday 'without a time zone, it is easy to confuse the message with the K-line during subsequent review. When converting time, the date should be checked at the same time, not just adding or subtracting hours.

Keep three dates when reading

Report statistics date:

When does the current position snapshot correspond to.

Actual release date:

When will the public be able to see the report.

Data search date:

When did you read the page and which issue of the file was used.

You can first confirm the report date on the CFTC page before entering the required market and report version. The classification of metals, separate futures, and consolidation of futures and options all need to be verified. If the third-party page does not have a statistical date and only indicates the news release time, it should return to the original report for confirmation.

These three dates can also help identify old report reposts. Just appearing in search results or updating articles does not mean that the position numbers themselves have just changed. When reading historical data, keep the file version used at that time for easy traceability.
  • If a weekly report is delayed, the interval between periods should also be checked during the next review. If two snapshots are separated by more than a week, the position difference cannot continue to be referred to as normal weekly increase or decrease. The change in reporting time should be directly reflected in one's own comparative labels.Two types of market reviews answer different questions
  • Studying how positions change with the market can compare two Tuesday snapshots with corresponding period prices. This answer is about the position background during the data period. Whether the release of a research report affects the market should be observed by examining the prices and other simultaneously released information in the vicinity of the actual release time.The two types of windows cannot be confused. The US dollar, interest rates, or policy news after Tuesday may have changed the market trend; Price fluctuations after publication may not necessarily come entirely from position reports. If contemporaneous news is not excluded, it is appropriate to describe the temporal correlation and cannot directly claim that the report caused fluctuations.
  • Supplement background with reports instead of chasing signalsCOT is suitable for observing participant structure and weekly changes, and cannot provide information on each transaction or prove that all positions have not changed as of the time of review. Before placing an order, it is still necessary to consider the current quotation, product rules, and risk plan.
Wmax · 威马证券's investment classroom provides technical analysis, news analysis, and risk management content, with exclusive perspectives for easy reading of platform market observations. Comparing these contents with CFTC raw data can help distinguish statistical background and current market conditions; Do not treat weekly statistics as real-time trading instructions.

可以先在CFTC页面确认报告日期，再进入所需市场和报告版本。金属分类、期货单独和期货期权合并均要核对。如果第三方页面没有统计日，只标了新闻发布时间，就应回到原始报告确认。

这三项日期也能帮助识别旧报告转载。搜索结果刚出现或文章刚更新，不代表仓位数字本身刚发生变化。读取历史资料时，保留当时使用的文件版本，便于追溯。

如果某周报告延期，下一次查阅时还要检查期间间隔。两份快照相隔超过一周，持仓差值就不能继续被称为正常单周增减。报告时间的变化，应直接体现在自己的比较标签上。

两种行情复盘回答不同问题

研究仓位怎样随行情变化，可以将两次周二快照与相应期间价格比较。这回答的是数据期内的持仓背景。研究报告发布是否影响市场，则应观察实际公布时点附近的价格和其他同时发布的信息。

两种窗口不能混为一谈。周二之后的美元、利率或政策消息可能已经改变行情；发布后价格波动，也不一定全部来自持仓报告。若没有排除同期消息，适合描述时间上的关联，不能直接宣称报告造成了涨跌。

用报告补充背景而非追逐信号

COT适合观察参与者结构和周度变化，无法提供每笔交易，也不能证明截至查阅时所有仓位都未改变。下单前仍要结合当前报价、产品规则和风险计划。

Wmax · 威马证券的投资课堂提供技术分析、消息分析和风险管理内容，独家观点方便阅读平台行情观察。把这些内容与CFTC原始资料对照，有助于分清统计背景和当前市场状态；不要把周度统计当作即时交易指令。