Revised COT Release Schedule 2025 – What Traders Need to Know

Published: December 2025
Category: Knowledge • Commitment of Traders (COT)

After months of delays caused by the U.S. Government shutdown and resulting backlogs, the CFTC has released the official revised publication schedule for all remaining Commitment of Traders (COT) reports in 2025.

For traders who rely on positioning data—especially in commodity markets such as grains, energies, metals, or financial futures—this update is highly important. It determines when the remaining missing data points will be published and when the weekly COT cycle returns to normal.

Why This Matters for Traders

The COT report is a cornerstone for analyzing market sentiment and positioning. Strategies based on COT Index, Commercial Long/Short dynamics, Net Position Delta, and trend confirmation depend on timely data.

Due to the multi-month delay, several weeks of reports were pending. The CFTC will now publish them in a compressed catch-up schedule through December 2025 and January 2026.

Revised Publication Schedule (2025–2026)

* First catch-up publication (Wednesday).
** COT releases return to the normal weekly schedule from this date.

When Does the Normal COT Schedule Resume?

The CFTC confirms that starting January 23rd, 2026, the report returns to the traditional weekly cycle:

• Positions as of Tuesday
• Publication on Friday at 3:30 PM ET

Impact on Trading Strategies

Until the catch-up phase is complete, traders will experience condensed data updates, meaning multiple weeks of sentiment can shift in a short time. During this transition:

• Expect temporary volatility in COT-based signals.
• Strategies relying on COT Index / COT Delta may require recalibration.
• COT dashboards (including the one on cot-trader.com) will update rapidly as new data arrives.

Conclusion

With the revised schedule now confirmed, traders can finally plan ahead and integrate the remaining 2025 COT data into their analysis. The normal rhythm will return by late January 2026 — a welcome relief for anyone using positioning data in commodities, indices, or currencies.

This article will be automatically removed from the Knowledge section on February 1st, 2026, once the schedule normalizes.

Source: CFTC – Revised 2025 COT Release Schedule