Net Longs vs Net Shorts

Net long versus net short positioning nets out participants' directional exposure to answer which side capital is leaning toward overall. Sources are typically exchange-published account position distributions or the CFTC's categorised positioning reports.

In derivatives, longs and shorts always match one-for-one in notional terms, so any 'net long' figure is necessarily the result of grouping — usually by account type (retail versus large) or institutional category (commercial versus speculative), and its meaning depends entirely on that grouping. The most common misuse is applying retail net-long share mechanically as a contrarian signal: the relationship only holds statistically at extreme readings, and the middle range is mostly noise. CFTC data also carries a three-day publication lag.

Volume and market-structure metrics describe the size and distribution of trading activity. Methodologies differ sharply between venues (wash-trading filters, USD conversion), so confirm the accounting basis before comparing platforms side by side.

The live chart for this metric is still being wired up. Global volume, venue share and perp-vs-spot pages already carry real data.