commitment of traders report

A biweekly report put out by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission that shows the number of long and short positions held by traders in the U.S. commodities markets. Long positions are futures contracts that have been purchased; short positions are contracts that have been sold without the seller owning the underlying contract. The reports also show the open interest, or number of contracts that exist, in the market. Traders look at the report for signals about whether the market is likely to move higher or lower.