Managed Money moved platinum into a net short of 1,283 contracts in the week to 3 November, from a net long of 1,765, after adding 3,539 gross shorts. The more revealing pattern sits underneath it: reported gross long positions rose in silver, platinum and palladium and were almost unchanged in gold, so increases in gross shorts account for the net deterioration in gold, platinum and palladium.
TL;DR
- Platinum: Net positioning crossed into a short of 1,283 contracts from a long of 1,765, a 3,048-contract swing, as gross shorts rose 3,539 to 19,114.
- Palladium: The net short widened 1,919 contracts to 15,216, equivalent to 49.6% of open interest, with gross shorts at 69.8%.
- Gold: Net length fell 1,948 contracts to 103,614, but through 1,723 additional shorts rather than long sales, with gross longs down just 225.
- Silver: The only improvement, net length rising 714 contracts to 4,035 on 658 new longs and 56 contracts of short covering.
- Mechanism: Reported gross shorts increased in three of the four metals, and gross longs also increased in three of the four, so larger short books account for the net declines.
- Open interest: Platinum expanded 9.7% to 91,278 contracts and palladium 13.3% to 30,676, while silver was the only market to contract.
Platinum Answers the Previous Week's Question
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission's Disaggregated Commitments of Traders report, released on Friday 6 November, covers positions held at the close of Tuesday 3 November. The previous edition of this series closed by asking whether platinum's short-selling acceleration had continued past the 27 October cut-off, and whether gold's renewed long additions would develop into a broader rebuilding of speculative exposure. The latest release answers both: platinum's did continue, carrying net positioning through zero, and gold's did not.
Platinum is the headline because it changed sign. Managed Money held a net long of 8,475 contracts on 6 October, 6,589 on 20 October and 1,765 on 27 October. It now holds a net short of 1,283. At 1.41% of total futures open interest the magnitude is small, so this is a directional threshold rather than a large position, but it is the first net short in the sequence.
The common thread across the four markets is mechanism rather than direction. Managed Money's reported gross long book grew in three of the four metals, and in the fourth, gold, it fell by only 225 contracts, so increases in reported gross shorts account for the net deterioration in gold, platinum and palladium. The report measures outstanding positions by category at a single observation point, so it establishes what the books looked like, not which participants transacted.
Managed Money Positions
| Metal | Gross longs | Gross shorts | Net position | Previous net | Weekly change |
|---|
| Gold | 122,283 | 18,669 | +103,614 | +105,562 | −1,948 |
| Silver | 17,522 | 13,487 | +4,035 | +3,321 | +714 |
| Platinum | 17,831 | 19,114 | −1,283 | +1,765 | −3,048 |
| Palladium | 6,207 | 21,423 | −15,216 | −13,297 | −1,919 |
Source: CFTC Disaggregated Commitments of Traders, Futures Only. Positions as at 3 November 2026, compared with 27 October. Figures are futures contracts. Contract counts are not comparable across metals with different specifications.
Platinum and palladium are now both net short, leaving gold and silver as the only two markets in which Managed Money holds a positive outright balance. Gold remains the largest net long in absolute contract terms by a wide margin.
Weekly Changes and Open Interest
| Metal | Δ Longs | Δ Shorts | Open interest | Δ OI | Long % OI | Short % OI | Net % OI |
|---|
| Gold | −225 | +1,723 | 399,169 | +2,359 | 30.6% | 4.7% | +26.0% |
| Silver | +658 | −56 | 115,583 | −643 | 15.2% | 11.7% | +3.5% |
| Platinum | +491 | +3,539 | 91,278 | +8,049 | 19.5% | 20.9% | −1.4% |
| Palladium | +551 | +2,470 | 30,676 | +3,601 | 20.2% | 69.8% | −49.6% |
Source: CFTC. Weekly changes refer to Managed Money outright long and short positions and are taken from the report's own change columns. Open-interest percentages use total futures open interest for each market rather than Managed Money positions alone, and the long and short shares are as published by the CFTC.
Platinum's open interest rose 8,049 contracts, the largest absolute increase, with palladium's 3,601-contract gain the largest proportionally at 13.3%. Silver was the only market in which outstanding contracts fell. Managed Money spreading positions, reported separately and excluded from the net calculation, rose for a second consecutive week in all four metals: gold added 4,225 contracts to 44,727, platinum 2,178 to 8,854, silver 1,002 to 14,077 and palladium 49 to 1,020.
Platinum: The Short Book Grows for a Second Week
Platinum's Managed Money net position fell 3,048 contracts, from a long of 1,765 to a short of 1,283. Gross shorts increased 3,539 contracts to 19,114 while gross longs rose 491 to 17,831. The entire change in net exposure, and rather more than all of it, came from the short side.
The two-week picture is more informative than either week alone. Gross shorts stood at 11,380 contracts on 20 October, 15,575 on 27 October and 19,114 on 3 November, an increase of 7,734 contracts or 68.0% across the fortnight, with weekly additions of 4,195 and then 3,539. Gross shorts now represent 20.9% of open interest against 18.7% a week earlier and 16.1% a fortnight ago.
Open interest expanded alongside the short book rather than contracting beneath it. Total outstanding platinum futures rose from 70,511 contracts on 20 October to 83,229 and then 91,278, an increase of 29.5% in two weeks. The combination of an expanding market and an expanding short book means the net-short crossing did not occur because participation withdrew. Open interest covers all trader categories, however, so its 29.5% rise does not establish that Managed Money created those additional contracts or that they represent new directional risk. Spreading positions rose 2,178 contracts to 8,854, a 32.6% increase and the second consecutive week of substantial growth. That indicates a broader increase in reported Managed Money positioning rather than one confined to outright directional shorts; the CFTC does not disclose which strategies produced it.
Palladium: The Net Short Widens Again
Palladium's net short widened 1,919 contracts to 15,216. Gross shorts rose 2,470 to 21,423 and gross longs 551 to 6,207, so new bearish exposure exceeded long additions by approximately four and a half to one.
The sequence is well established. The net short stood at 4,339 contracts on 8 September, 11,994 on 20 October, 13,297 on 27 October and 15,216 on 3 November, more than tripling over that period. Gross shorts represent 69.8% of open interest, effectively unchanged from the previous week's 70.0% despite the addition of nearly 2,500 contracts, because open interest grew 13.3% to 30,676 at the same time.
The net-short share nevertheless deteriorated, from 49.1% of open interest to 49.6%. Palladium remains by some distance the most heavily net-short of the four metals in relative terms. The gross-short share is a measure of reported positioning against outstanding contracts, not of market liquidity, and it does not establish how many traders hold those positions or how concentrated they are among them. Nor does it establish when, or whether, such positions will be covered.
Gold: Short Exposure Rises as Longs Hold Steady
Gold's net long declined 1,948 contracts to 103,614. The composition is the notable part. Gross longs fell only 225 contracts to 122,283, while gross shorts rose 1,723 to 18,669, an increase of 10.2% in the short book.
That is the third distinct mechanism in three weeks. In the week to 20 October, net length fell 2,883 contracts as funds liquidated 3,777 longs and covered 894 shorts. In the week to 27 October it rose 1,356 contracts on 1,538 new longs. In the latest week it fell again, with the reported long book broadly unchanged and a larger short book accounting for the decline.
Gross longs represent 30.6% of open interest against 30.9% a week earlier, while gross shorts rose from 4.3% to 4.7%. Net length equates to 26.0% of open interest, down from 26.6%. Total open interest increased 2,359 contracts to 399,169, so the market grew modestly while speculative length edged lower. Net positioning remains approximately 22.2% below its 15 September level of 133,116 contracts, so the autumn reduction has not been reversed by either of the two intervening positive weeks.
Silver: The Only Market to Improve
Silver was the sole metal to record an increase in net length, which rose 714 contracts to 4,035. Gross longs increased 658 to 17,522 and gross shorts fell 56 to 13,487. The reduction in shorts is small, but it reverses two consecutive weeks in which short additions exceeded long accumulation, including the 868-contract increase recorded in the week to 27 October.
Silver was also the only market in which total open interest contracted, falling 643 contracts to 115,583. Gross longs now represent 15.2% of open interest against 14.5% a week earlier, while the gross short share held at 11.7%. Net length equates to 3.5% of open interest, up from 2.9%.
The improvement should be read in proportion. Silver's net balance remains narrow in both absolute and relative terms, and a 714-contract gain does not establish a change in trend. What it does establish is that silver did not participate in the short accumulation recorded in the other three markets.
What the Positioning Data Tell Us
The previous edition described an unusually uneven distribution, with gold improving while the other three weakened. The latest release is more uniform in mechanism and less uniform in outcome. Three of the four metals saw their net positions deteriorate, and in all three it was the increase in reported gross shorts that accounted for the change. Gross long books grew in silver, platinum and palladium.
That distinction has practical consequences for what the figures describe. A net position that narrows because the long book shrinks leaves less reported exposure outstanding. One that narrows because the short book grows leaves a larger gross book on both sides, which is what these reports now show. The four-week view qualifies the point for platinum: it now has 17,831 gross longs against 19,114 gross shorts, compared with 19,491 longs and 11,016 shorts on 6 October. Over four weeks gross shorts increased 8,098 contracts, or 73.5%, while gross longs declined 1,660. The resulting 9,758-contract deterioration took Managed Money from a net long of 8,475 to a net short of 1,283, so the longer period combines short accumulation with a genuine reduction in long exposure.
These percentages describe reported futures positioning within each market. They do not describe physical supply, investment conviction or future price direction. The CFTC's Tuesday observation also imposes a boundary: the report does not capture trading from 4 November onwards, so subsequent price movements cannot be attributed to the positions recorded here without further evidence.
The Bottom Line
Platinum crossed from net long to net short in the CFTC's 6 November release, ending a decline that began in early October. Managed Money added 3,539 gross shorts to reach 19,114, taking the two-week increase to 7,734 contracts or 68.0%, while total open interest expanded 29.5% over the same fortnight. The resulting net short of 1,283 contracts is small at 1.41% of open interest, so the significance lies in the change of sign and the rate of short accumulation rather than in the size of the position.
Palladium extended its own sequence to a net short of 15,216 contracts, now 49.6% of open interest. Gold's net long fell for the second time in three weeks, with its reported long book almost unchanged. Silver was the only market to improve, and the only one in which open interest contracted.
The unifying observation concerns mechanism. Reported gross long positions increased in three of the four metals and were broadly flat in the fourth, so the net declines in gold, platinum and palladium are accounted for by larger short books rather than by smaller long ones. Both gold and platinum now carry larger short books than at any point in the recent sequence.
The next CFTC report is scheduled for Monday 16 November 2026, a delayed release owing to a federal holiday, covering positions as at Tuesday 10 November. It will establish whether platinum's net short extends or proves to be a brief crossing, and whether gold's short book continues to grow now that its long book has stopped expanding.
FAQ
Has platinum turned net short?
Yes, on the latest data. Managed Money held 17,831 gross longs against 19,114 gross shorts on 3 November, a net short of 1,283 contracts, having held a net long of 1,765 a week earlier. The position equates to 1.41% of total futures open interest.
Did reported long positions shrink this week?
Not materially. Gross long positions increased in silver, platinum and palladium, and fell by only 225 contracts in gold. The declines in net positioning are accounted for by increases in reported gross shorts. The report records outstanding positions by category and cannot identify individual position closures.
Why did palladium's short share of open interest fall slightly while its short book grew?
Because the wider market grew faster. Gross shorts increased 2,470 contracts to 21,423, but total open interest rose 13.3% to 30,676, so the short share moved from 70.0% to 69.8% even as the absolute position expanded.
Is gold's autumn liquidation over?
Not on this evidence. Net length fell 1,948 contracts to 103,614 and remains approximately 22.2% below its 15 September level of 133,116. The mechanism changed, with the long book now broadly stable, but the net position has not begun rebuilding.
What does the increase in spreading positions indicate?
Spreading rose for a second consecutive week in all four metals, by 4,225 contracts in gold and 2,178 in platinum. It establishes that reported fund activity expanded beyond outright directional positions. The report does not disclose the strategies behind those spreads.
Does platinum turning net short mean its price will fall?
No. The report measures reported positioning at a single observation date. It does not forecast prices, and positioning data alone cannot establish future direction.
When is the next CFTC precious-metals report published?
Monday 16 November 2026 at 3:30pm Eastern, a delayed release owing to a federal holiday, covering positions as at Tuesday 10 November.
Why are options excluded from these figures?
They are taken from the CFTC's Futures Only report. Net exposure here is gross outright longs minus gross outright shorts, with spreading excluded. The CFTC publishes a separate Futures-and-Options Combined report incorporating delta-adjusted options, and the two give different totals for the same date.
Data and Source Note
Figures are from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission's Disaggregated Commitments of Traders report, Futures Only, released Friday 6 November 2026. Positions are observed as at Tuesday 3 November and compared with Tuesday 27 October.
The analysis covers standard COMEX gold and silver futures and NYMEX platinum and palladium futures, using the Disaggregated Managed Money classification. Gross long and gross short figures refer to outright futures positions. Net positions equal gross longs minus gross shorts; spreading positions, which the CFTC reports separately, are excluded from that calculation.
Open interest represents all outstanding futures contracts across trader categories. Long, short and net percentages are calculated against each metal's total futures open interest. Weekly changes are taken from the report's own change columns and have been reconciled against the gross positions published in Bloodstone Research's 2 November edition, with all twelve long, short and spreading figures agreeing exactly across the four metals. Positions recorded on 3 November do not reflect subsequent trading.
Primary Sources
US Commodity Futures Trading Commission — Disaggregated Commitments of Traders, Futures Only, "Other" sector report covering metals, Managed Money category, positions dated 3 November 2026
CFTC — Disaggregated Futures-Only Commitments of Traders, comma delimited
CFTC — Commitments of Traders report index and release schedule
CFTC — Disaggregated Explanatory Notes
CFTC — Commitments of Traders release schedule, 2026
Previous edition: Bloodstone Research — CFTC Precious Metals Positioning Intelligence: Platinum Shorts Surge as Net Length Collapses 73%, 2 November 2026
This document is published by Bloodstone Research for informational and institutional research purposes only. It does not constitute investment advice, an investment recommendation, an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any financial instrument, commodity or security, or a forecast of future performance. Market conditions and data may change without notice. Readers should conduct their own analysis and, where appropriate, seek independent professional advice before making investment decisions. For institutional enquiries contact research@bloodstonecapital.co.uk.
