COT Report Schedule & Release Times: When Does the CFTC Publish?
Feb 13, 2026
COT Report Schedule & Release Times: When Does the CFTC Publish?
The Commitment of Traders (COT) report is published weekly by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The schedule is consistent and predictable — once you understand how it works, you'll know exactly when to check for new data.
The Basic Schedule
Publication day: Every Friday
Publication time: 3:30 PM Eastern Time (ET)
Official source: CFTC Market Reports
The CFTC publishes the report on Friday afternoon, without exception, unless a federal holiday falls on a Friday (more on that below).
The Tuesday–Friday Gap: What It Means
This is the part that confuses most newcomers.
The data in each Friday report reflects positions as of the preceding Tuesday's close of business. So when you read a COT report published on a Friday, you're looking at a snapshot that is already three days old.
Example:
- Report published: Friday, 14 February 2026 at 3:30 PM ET
- Data reflects: Tuesday, 11 February 2026 (close of business)
- Data age when published: 3 days
For our dashboard and weekly analysis, we label each report by its Tuesday data date, not the Friday publication date. This is the standard convention used by most professional data providers.
What "Close of Business Tuesday" Actually Means
The CFTC collects open interest data from exchanges and large clearing members at the end of trading on Tuesday. This includes:
- All reportable long and short positions held by commercial and non-commercial traders
- Open interest figures for each futures contract
- Positions in both the futures and options markets (depending on report type)
The CFTC then has Wednesday and Thursday to compile, verify, and format the data before releasing it Friday afternoon.
Holiday Schedule Adjustments
When a U.S. federal holiday falls on a Monday or a Friday, the schedule shifts.
If Monday is a holiday:
The data collection moves from Tuesday to Wednesday. The report is still published on Friday, but the data date is Wednesday rather than Tuesday.
If Friday is a holiday:
The report is published on the following Thursday instead.
The CFTC maintains an annual schedule of adjusted release dates on their website. Major holidays to watch: Martin Luther King Jr. Day (January), Presidents' Day (February), Memorial Day (May), Independence Day (July), Labor Day (September), Thanksgiving (November), Christmas (December).
How to Find the Data Date on Each Report
Every COT report file is labelled with its data date (the Tuesday), not the publication date. On the CFTC website, the filename format is:
fut_disagg_txtonly_YYYY_MM_DD.zip
Where YYYY_MM_DD refers to the Tuesday data date.
When we process CFTC data for this dashboard, we use this date as the report identifier. In the weekly blog analysis, dates in the post title and frontmatter always refer to the Tuesday data date.
Report Types and Their Schedules
The CFTC publishes several versions of the COT report simultaneously on Friday. All share the same schedule.
| Report Type | Coverage | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Legacy | Futures-only or Futures+Options combined | Most widely used; longest history |
| Disaggregated | Breaks "Commercials" into Producer/Merchant/Processor/Swap Dealers | More detail; shorter history |
| Traders in Financial Instruments (TFF) | Financial futures only | Relevant for FX, bonds, stock indices |
| Supplemental | Combined futures+options for selected agricultural markets | Narrow focus |
This site uses the Legacy Futures-Only report. It provides the longest continuous history and covers the broadest set of markets.
Publication History: How Far Back Does the Data Go?
The Legacy COT report has been published in its current form since 1986. The CFTC also maintains historical files going back to 1983 for some markets.
For our analysis, we maintain a rolling 104-week (2-year) historical window. This is sufficient to calculate meaningful percentile rankings and Z-scores without the distortions that can occur when comparing current positioning to very distant historical periods (market structure changes significantly over a decade).
Data Delay Considerations
Three days is a meaningful lag in fast-moving markets.
During periods of sharp price moves — a central bank surprise, a geopolitical event, a major data release — the Tuesday positioning snapshot may already be outdated by the time it's published Friday. Traders who moved positions on Wednesday or Thursday won't appear in the data until the following week's report.
This is a known limitation of COT data, not a flaw specific to any particular provider. It's worth keeping in mind when interpreting extreme position readings during volatile periods.
For a full discussion of what COT data can and cannot tell you, see our Methodology page.
Quick Reference
| What | When |
|---|---|
| Data collected | Tuesday, close of business |
| Report published | Friday, 3:30 PM ET |
| Data age at publication | 3 business days |
| Holiday adjustment (Monday holiday) | Data shifts to Wednesday |
| Holiday adjustment (Friday holiday) | Publication moves to Thursday |
| Historical data available (Legacy) | From 1983–1986 depending on market |
| Our historical window | 104 weeks (2 years) |
Related
This page is updated when CFTC schedule information changes. Last reviewed: February 2026.
