The Commitments of Traders (COT) report as published by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) shows the open interest of different participants in the U.S. futures markets by reporting of opening and closing positions.

The Commitment of Traders (COT) report breaks down market participants by Commercial and Non-Commercial Traders, which are further broken down in Dealer/Intermediary, Asset Managers and Leverage Funds for financial futures and Producer/Merchant/Processor/User, Swap Dealers and Managed money for commodity futures.

This information provides insight into what the "smart money" is doing, and which groups of participants are driving the current trends. Would knowing that Large banks have an increasing long position in Forex futures affect your trading? If Agricultural Producers are long or short their crop futures, would that affect your take on the market?

The Commitment of Traders report provides you with a long-term view of the market, which is often lost within the short-term trends, and knowing whether major market participants are long or short can help position traders stay on the right side off the underlying market trend.

Join John Rowland, Barchart's Head of Trading Education, as he reveals the importance of the COT, what to look for when reading the report, and how to use it in your futures trading.

The Commitment of Traders webinar will help to answer the following questions: What is open interest? How is open interest calculated? Which market participants are trend followers and which are trendsetters? Understanding the role that different participants play is critical in fully understanding the COT report.