--- title: "Speculator Extremes: Palladium, Steel, WTI Crude & Sugar Lead Bullish & Bearish Positions" type: "News" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/272321917.md" description: "The latest Commitment of Traders report reveals extreme speculator positions for various commodities. Palladium and Steel lead with bullish positions at 97% of their 3-year range, while WTI Crude Oil is the most bearish at just 6%. Other notable positions include Euro (91% bullish), MSCI EAFE MINI (89% bullish), and Copper (87% bullish). Cocoa and Sugar also show bearish extremes at 10%, with Natural Gas at 12% and Soybean Oil at 14%. These extreme positions may indicate potential market movements." datetime: "2026-01-12T21:40:50.000Z" locales: - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/272321917.md) - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/272321917.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/272321917.md) --- > Supported Languages: [简体中文](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/272321917.md) | [繁體中文](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/272321917.md) # Speculator Extremes: Palladium, Steel, WTI Crude & Sugar Lead Bullish & Bearish Positions The latest update for the weekly Commitment of Traders (COT) report was released by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Friday for data ending on **January 6th 2026**. This weekly Extreme Positions report highlights the Most Bullish and Most Bearish Positions for the speculator category. **Extreme positioning** in these markets can foreshadow strong moves in the underlying market. To signify an extreme position, we use the Strength Index (also known as the COT Index) of each instrument, a common method of measuring COT data. The Strength Index is simply a comparison of current trader positions against the range of positions over the previous 3 years. We use over 80 percent as extremely bullish and under 20 percent as extremely bearish. (Compare Strength Index scores across all markets in the data table or cot leaders table). ## **Here Are This Week’s Most Bullish Speculator Positions:** ### **Palladium** The Palladium speculator position comes in as the most extreme bullish standingof the week. The Palladium speculator level sits at a 97 percent score of its 3-year range. The six-week trend for the percent strength score was a rise by 7 percentage points while the speculator position registered 579 net contracts this week with a weekly increase of 1,150 contracts in speculator bets. ### **Steel** The Steel speculator position comes in as the second most bullish extreme standing this week with the Steel speculator level currently at a 97 percent score of its 3-year range. The six-week trend for the strength score totaled a gain of 21 percentage points this week. The overall net speculator position was a total of 9,477 net contracts this week with a dip by -584 contract in the weekly speculator bets. ### **Euro** The Euro speculator position comes in third this week in the extreme standings. The EUR speculator level currently resides at a 91 percent score of its 3-year range. The six-week trend for the speculator strength score came in at a gain of 26 percentage points this week. The overall speculator position was 162,812 net contracts this week with a boost by 5,347 contracts in the weekly speculator bets. ### **MSCI EAFE MINI** The MSCI EAFE MINI speculator position comes up number four in the extreme standings this week. The MSCI EAFE-Mini speculator level is at a 89 percent score of its 3-year range. The six-week trend for the speculator strength score totaled a rise of 6 percentage points while the overall speculator position was 11,483 net contracts this week with a weekly drop of -4,757 contracts in the speculator bets. ### **Copper** The Copper speculator position rounds out the top five in this week’s bullish extreme standings. The Copper speculator level sits at a 87 percent score of its 3-year range with the six-week trend for the speculator strength score gaining by 13 percentage points this week. The overall speculator position was 57,858 net contracts this week with a decline of -1,981 contracts in the weekly speculator bets. ## **The Most Bearish Speculator Positions of the Week:** ### **WTI Crude Oil** The WTI Crude Oil speculator position comes in as the most bearish extreme standing this week. The WTI Crude speculator level is at just a 6 percent score of its 3-year range. The six-week trend for the speculator strength score was an edge higher by 1 percentage point this week. The overall speculator position totaled 57,352 net contracts this week with a change of -7,239 contracts in the speculator bets. ### **Cocoa Futures** The Cocoa Futures speculator position comes in next for the most bearish extreme standing on the week with the Cocoa speculator level sitting at a 10 percent score of its 3-year range. The six-week trend for the speculator strength score was 10 percentage points this week and the speculator position was 3,230 net contracts this week with a small gain of 72 contracts in the weekly speculator bets. ### **Sugar** The Sugar speculator position comes in as third most bearish extreme standing of the week. The Sugar speculator level also resides at an approximate 10 percent score of its 3-year range. The six-week trend for the speculator strength score was an increase by 8 percentage points this week while the overall speculator position was -154,098 net contracts this week with a drop of -16,276 contracts in the speculator bets. ### **Natural Gas** The Natural Gas speculator position comes in as this week’s fourth most bearish extreme standing as the speculator standing leveled at a 12 percent score of its 3-year range. The six-week trend for the speculator strength score was -21 percentage points this week. The speculator position totaled -165,559 net contracts this week with a decline of -10,665 contracts in the weekly speculator bets. ### **Soybean Oil** The Soybean Oil speculator position comes in as the fifth most bearish extreme standing for this week. The Soybean Oil speculator level is at a 14 percent score of its 3-year range. The six-week trend for the speculator strength score was a drop by -28 percentage points this week. The speculator position was -51,163 net contracts this week with a rise of 9,277 contracts in the weekly speculator bets. * * * _More By This Author:_ Speculator Extremes: Sugar, VIX, 5-Yr Bond & WTI Crude Lead Bearish Positions Australian Dollar Speculator Bets Rebound After Dropping To Over 1-Year Low Mexican Peso Speculator Bets Rise To 1-Year High, Euro & Yen Bets Advance ## Related News & Research - [Sugar Prices Fall on Weakness in Crude Oil](https://longbridge.com/en/news/281402179.md) - [US preparing to roll out tiered system for tariffs on steel, aluminum imports](https://longbridge.com/en/news/281552274.md) - [Cocoa Prices Surge on Insufficient Rain in West Africa](https://longbridge.com/en/news/281217214.md) - [Trump expected to overhaul steel and aluminum tariffs, WSJ reports](https://longbridge.com/en/news/281423698.md) - [White House Fact Sheets on certain reimposed tariffs on steel, aluminum, copper and patented pharmaceutical products](https://longbridge.com/en/news/281568468.md)