Cotton Spread Betting


cf_market_short Trading Guide

The CleanFinancial guide to Cotton spread betting.


Live Cotton Chart & Prices

This CFDs chart provides you with a helpful view of the cotton market.


The Plus 500 chart above normally uses the underlying cotton futures price.

A simple way to access live spread betting prices/charts for cotton is through a spread betting account. Opening a spreads account is subject to suitability, credit and status checks.

If your application is accepted then you can log on and look at the live prices and charts. Usually, these will be provided as part of the service.

Of course, if you do decide to trade then, before starting, you should be aware that CFDs and spread betting do carry a high level of risk to your funds and it is possible to incur losses that exceed your initial deposit.

Where Can I Spread Bet on Cotton?

At the moment, you are able to spread bet with no brokers’ fees and no commissions on Cotton, in addition to a wide variety of similar spread betting markets, with companies such as:

You may also be able to take a view on Cotton with other providers.


Cotton Trading News

5 May 2018, 12:56pm, Updated Cotton No. 2 COT Report

The latest Commitments of Traders Report (COT) for Cotton No. 2 has been released by the CFTC, see our Cotton No. 2 COT report below.

We have also updated our Commodities COT Summary Report.

Update by Gordon Childs, Editor, CleanFinancial
5 May 2018, 8:17pm, Updated Cotton No. 2 COT Report

The latest Commitments of Traders Report (COT) for Cotton No. 2 has been released by the CFTC, see our Cotton No. 2 COT report below.

We have also updated our Commodities COT Summary Report.

Update by Gordon Childs, Editor, CleanFinancial

» For more see Commodities Trading News & Analysis.


Professional Level Charts for Cotton

Although charting software and packages can vary between providers, to help you with your trading decisions, they often have user friendly features and tools, including:

  • A number of time intervals e.g. 2 minutes, 4 hours, 1 week and so on
  • Various display options e.g. line and candle charts
  • Tools for drawing and adding features e.g. trendlines, Fibonacci fans, arcs and time zones
  • Overlays and technical indicators e.g. Bollinger Bands, Momentum, Williams %R and so on
The charts from Financial Spreads also have more advanced features:
  • Back Testing, Analysis and Optimisation tools
  • Email alerts for when your chosen market hits a given level

Example Financial Spreads commodity market candlestick chart

Cotton Trading Guide - Example Chart


The financial spread betting companies in the list below give their clients access to real time trading prices/charts:



Advert: Cotton Spread Betting, sponsored by FinancialSpreads.com.
You can spread bet on Cotton with Financial Spreads.


Where Can I Trade Cotton for Free?

By its very nature, speculating always includes a degree of risk. However, if you would like to try a completely free Test Account, which lets you look at trading charts and try out spread trading, see below for further details.

When thinking about which investment option is right for you, also remember that spread betting in the UK is currently tax free*, i.e. it is exempt from capital gains tax, income tax and stamp duty.

If you are trying to find a free platform then note that investors are able to spread bet on Cotton without paying any commissions or brokers’ fees with:


Free Demo Account

Should you want to have a look at a Practice Account / Demo Account that lets users try out spread betting, including markets such as Cotton, then you can always have a look at:

Each of these companies offer a risk free Test Account that lets users apply trading orders, try out strategies and check charts, such as candlestick and bar charts.


How to Spread Bet on Cotton?

As with a wide range of markets, you can spread bet on commodities, such as Cotton, to either rise or fall.

Looking at the FinancialSpreads site, they are valuing the Cotton July Futures market at $91.67 – $91.90. Therefore, an investor can spread trade on Cotton:

  Cotton Spread Betting Example Closing higher than $91.90, or
  Cotton Trading Example Closing lower than $91.67

On the settlement date for this ‘July’ market, 22-Jun-12.

When financial spread trading on Cotton you trade in £x per $0.01. As a result, if you chose to have a stake of £3 per $0.01 and Cotton moves $0.29 then that would make a difference to your profits (or losses) of £87. £3 per $0.01 x $0.29 = £87.


Cotton Futures – Commodity Trading Example

So, if you think about the above spread of $91.67 – $91.90 and make the assumptions:

  • you have analysed the commodities market, and
  • it leads you to feel that the Cotton market will finish higher than $91.90 by 22-Jun-12
then you might decide that you are going to buy at $91.90 and invest, for example, £2 per $0.01.

So, you win £2 for every $0.01 that Cotton increases above $91.90. On the other hand, it also means you will lose £2 for every $0.01 that the Cotton market moves lower than $91.90.

Looked at another way, should you ‘Buy’ a spread bet then your P&L is calculated by taking the difference between the final price of the market and the initial price you bought the spread at. You then multiply that difference in price by the stake.

Subsequently, if, on the settlement date, Cotton settled at $92.54, then:

Profits (or losses) = (Settlement Level – Initial Level) x stake
Profits (or losses) = ($92.54 – $91.90) x £2 per $0.01
Profits (or losses) = $0.64 x £2 per $0.01
Profits (or losses) = £128 profit

Speculating on commodities, whether by spread betting or otherwise, is not easy. In this example, you wanted the futures market to increase. Of course, the futures market can also go down.

If Cotton had fallen, settling lower at $91.34, then you would end up making a loss and losing on this spread bet.

Profits (or losses) = (Settlement Level – Initial Level) x stake
Profits (or losses) = ($91.34 – $91.90) x £2 per $0.01
Profits (or losses) = -$0.56 x £2 per $0.01
Profits (or losses) = -£112 loss

Note: Cotton July Futures spread betting price taken as of 26-Apr-12.


Advert: Cotton Spread Betting, sponsored by FinancialSpreads.com.
You can spread bet on Cotton with Financial Spreads.



Cotton No. 2 Commitments of Traders Report – 15 May 2018 (i)

Futures Only Positions, ICUS, Code 33661, (Contracts of 50,000lbs) (i)

Reporting Firms (i) Non-Reportable Positions (i)
Non-Commercial (i)
 Commercial (i) Total Reportable (i)
 
Commitments (i) Open (i) Interest Commitments
Long (i) Short (i) Spreads (i) Long Short Long Short Long Short
124,976 15,051 27,923 110,588 229,858 263,487 272,832 282,944 19,457 10,112
 
Changes from 8 May 2018 (i) Change in (i) Open Interest Changes from
Long Short Spreads Long Short Long Short Long Short
-6,983 1,455 2,115 1,146 -8,292 -3,722 -4,722 -3,457 265 1,265
 
Percent of Open Interest for Each Category of Trader (i)
Long Short Spreads Long Short Long Short   Long Short
44.2% 5.3% 9.9% 39.1% 81.2% 93.1% 96.4%   6.9% 3.6%
 
Number of Traders in Each Category (i) Total (i) Traders  
Long Short Spreads Long Short Long Short    
171 41 71 60 76 258 166 310    
 
Long/Short Commitments Ratios (i)   Long/Short Ratio
Ratio   Ratio Ratio   Ratio
8.3:1   1:2.1 1:1   1.9:1
 
Net Commitment Change (i)  
-8,438  

Also see: