Commitments of Traders: Strategies for Tracking the Market and Trading Profitably

Applying his statistical and programming talents to the task of analyzing mountains of market data, Upperman discovered something remarkable: there is an underlying order in the commodity markets not?found in the historic price movements of individual stocks. Further, he found that specific patterns in?commodity prices are highly correlated to the positions?held by participants in the commodity markets. These realizations led to his developing a unique trading and tracking system that exploits an obscure source of readily available but widely neglected data: the weekly U.S. government Commitment of Traders (COT) report.

Now a full-time trader, a registered commodity trading advisor, and the acknowledged leading analyst of COT data, Floyd Upperman makes available—for the first time in book form—his exclusive, phenomenally successful trading system based on a proprietary forward-looking indicator, Individual Market Participant Analysis (IMPA).

In Commitments of Traders, he will show you:

• Why merely “following the money” can lead you astray
• How to identify the turning points
• Common—and costly—misconceptions about the COT
• The seven steps of an IMPA setup trade
• How to achieve an optimum stop
• “Plunger patterns” and how to use them
• How to apply the “fading system”

Commitments of Traders will teach you why the trading activity of commercial institutions—as evidenced in the COT report—is so valuable in analyzing particular markets. And you will learn how to leverage the COT with technical and fundamental analysis. A priceless moneymaking tool, Commitments of Traders is essential reading for anyone trading in the lucrative futures market.

“Floyd has answered for many in this book a way to both understand and use the Commitment of Traders reports. In my thirty-five years as a registered broker and author of my own book, I find that at times someone takes a complex subject and makes it easier to understand. Floyd has done this with his book. Not only does he make understanding the COT easy, but he ties it to some technical trading ideas that readers can try out, using historical data on their own. Truly another good technical book for those looking to understand this often overlooked subject.”
―Ira Epstein, President, Ira Epstein & Company Futures

“For many years, I’ve had requests from customers seeking information on the Commitment of Traders report but had few resources to which I could refer them. This superb treatment of the subject by Floyd Upperman, full of detailed information and innovative ideas on how to use them [COT] effectively in trading, is the definitive treatment of the subject in my book. I highly recommend it.”
―Edward D. Dobson, President, Traders Press, Inc.

“The Commitment of Traders (COT) can be a very powerful trading tool to help anticipate market direction. But all too often it is misunderstood and/or misinterpreted . . . Floyd’s unique analytical interpretations, combined with his trading tools and indicators, will open a door to greater profitability for all traders.”
―Walter Bressert, President, Walter Bressert, Inc.

“If you are interested in capturing major market moves, this is a must-read book.”
―Larry Williams, Commodity Trader, Ireallytrade.com