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Trade Validator: where the money sits in ES and NQ. Official CFTC positioning, read in ten seconds.
Who is long, who is short and who is on the other side of the retail crowd in S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures. Every number comes from the CFTC's weekly Commitments of Traders report.
For information only, not financial advice. Futures trading carries a substantial risk of loss.
Trade Validator
CFTC Traders in Financial Futures · futures only
Net = long minus short. Spread positions excluded. Hover a bar for the detail.
- Positions as of
- Tue 22 Sep 2026
- CFTC release
- Fri 25 Sep 2026
- Reporting traders
- 419
View the data as a table
Positioning is context, not a signal. It is published with a three-day lag and does not tell you where price goes next.
The Trade Validator shows how the large players in ES and NQ futures are positioned, split into asset managers, leveraged funds, dealers and small traders. The data is the CFTC's Commitments of Traders report: positions as of Tuesday, published Friday at 3:30 PM ET. Use it to check whether your idea runs with or against committed capital, not to time an entry.
How to read it in three steps
- 01Find the professionalsAsset managers carry long-horizon money; leveraged funds trade tactically. When they sit on opposite sides, the market is contested.
- 02Find the small tradersNonreportable positions are the closest public proxy for retail and independent traders. Note which professional group they are lined up with.
- 03Check the stretchA group at the edge of its recent range has less room to add. One-sided books are where sharp reversals tend to start.
None of these steps is a trade signal on its own. Combine them with your plan, your levels and your risk limits.
The four groups, as the CFTC defines them
Institutional, long-horizon.
“Institutional investors, including pension funds, endowments, insurance companies, mutual funds and those portfolio/investment managers whose clients are predominantly institutional.”
Tactical, faster-moving.
“Typically hedge funds and various types of money managers, including registered commodity trading advisors (CTAs); registered commodity pool operators (CPOs) or unregistered funds identified by CFTC.”
The sell side.
“Large banks (U.S. and non-U.S.) and dealers in securities, swaps and other derivatives.” Their futures book often offsets what they sell to clients, so it is read as hedging rather than a view.
Below the reporting threshold.
Nonreportable positions: accounts too small to be reported individually. The closest public proxy for retail and independent traders, prop traders included.
Quotes from the CFTC's Traders in Financial Futures explanatory notes. A fifth group, other reportables, is mostly businesses hedging and is left out of the tool.
What the report cannot tell you
Three days old on release
Positions are taken on Tuesday and published on Friday. A lot can change in between, and nothing is known intraday.
Why a position exists
The CFTC classifies traders by their predominant activity and says it cannot know a trader's actual use: a hedge fund may be hedging.
Futures only
This view excludes options and spread positions, and it covers the E-mini contracts only, not micros.
Why it matters on a funded account
On an evaluation or a funded account, a fast move against you costs more than the trade: it eats into a trailing drawdown that does not come back. Positioning helps you notice when you are leaning the same way as a crowded, stretched group, which is exactly when moves tend to be sharp. It will not tell you when that happens, so size for it rather than predict it.
If you trade ES or NQ on a prop account, our EOD vs Intraday drawdown guide shows how the same session moves your floor on each model.
Affiliate disclosure: TraderPayout may earn a commission from this link, at no extra cost to you. Apex Performance Accounts are simulated. No funding or payout is guaranteed.
Frequently asked questions
What does the Trade Validator show?
How asset managers, leveraged funds, dealers and small traders are positioned in E-mini S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures: long, short and net, with the trend over the last 4, 8 or 13 weeks.
Where does the data come from?
From the CFTC's Traders in Financial Futures report, futures only, part of the weekly Commitments of Traders release. It is public data from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
How often does the data update?
Weekly. The CFTC publishes the report on Friday at 3:30 PM ET with positions as of the preceding Tuesday. Holidays can shift the schedule.
Is being on the same side as institutions always right?
No. Positioning is context, not a signal. A very one-sided group has less room to add, and crowded positions can unwind quickly. Use it alongside your own plan and levels.
Why are dealers usually short ES?
Dealers are the sell side. Much of their futures position offsets exposure they carry for clients, so a large dealer short is usually read as hedging rather than a bearish view.
Are micro contracts included?
No. The tool reads the E-mini S&P 500 and E-mini Nasdaq-100 contracts, futures only. Micro contracts and options are reported separately.
Sources
TraderPayout is an independent research publication for funded traders, operated by Unicorn, Building No. 60, Al‑Jazeera Street No. 342, Zone 22, Doha, Qatar. Positioning data is published by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission and shown as reported; TraderPayout is not affiliated with the CFTC. This tool is for information only and is not financial, investment or legal advice. Futures trading carries a substantial risk of loss.