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Posted on • Originally published at snakestock.com

COT Report Week 2 April: Smart Money Adds 39K Bond Shorts, Betting on Higher Rates

The April Week 2 CFTC Commitment of Traders report reveals a striking divergence. While smart money (hedge funds and institutions) maintains a net long position in Nasdaq futures at +9,915 contracts, they slashed conviction by half from the prior week's +19,471.

The real shock came from bonds. Smart money added 39,000 net short contracts in 10-year Treasury (ZN) futures, pushing total net shorts to -823,624. They are selling bonds even as equities wobble, a historically aggressive rate-rise bet.

Key signals across markets:

  • Nasdaq (NQ): Smart money net long +9,915 (down from +19,471). Retail flipped to net short (-3,122), creating a contrarian setup.
  • S&P 500 (ES): Smart money net short deepened to -43,108 contracts, adding 4,321 shorts.
  • VIX: Smart money covered 10,770 short contracts, acknowledging rising volatility risk.
  • High Yield spreads: Narrowed to 305bp from 317bp, suggesting credit stress is easing.
  • Congressional trades: 42 sells vs 15 buys, with Rep. Kevin Hern liquidating TXN and SMARTSTOP positions.

The divergence between Nasdaq longs and S&P shorts suggests smart money expects tech outperformance but broad market weakness.

For the full analysis in Korean, visit Snakestock.

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