Research Bleg: Commitments of VIX Traders

If you hold a position larger than a specified threshold in a
futures or options contract that is regulated by the CFTC, your
clearing firm must report it and classify your position as either
commercial or non-commercial (I prefer the clarity of the old
“hedging vs speculative” language, but whatever).  Futures
traders have been tracking these reports for years, but I’m not
aware of any studies that analyze the history of VIX futures
commitments, with the exception of a comment from
Jason Goepfert back in June 2009.

If you insist on the existence of “the smart money,” I can’t
think of a better g…