The Hedge Fund Secret Retail Traders IgnoreJoseph Plazo’s TED Talk on Mastering the COT

{Before an audience of curious investors, Atty. Joseph Plazo delivered a riveting talk on the one market report almost nobody studies properly. He argued that the COT, when decoded correctly, is nothing less than a market x-ray—a transparent look into the intentions of the world’s most powerful traders.

“The markets talk. The COT is its confession,” he began, laying out how Plazo Sullivan Roche Capital uses the report as a core element of its institutional models.

Most retail traders, he noted, chase indicators—they react. Professionals study posture—they anticipate. The COT is posture.

The Smart Money Tells Its Story Here

He detailed the three tribes that define market structure:

Hedgers, who move billions to manage real-world exposure

Institutions, who drive macro trends

Small Speculators, whose footprints often signal tops or bottoms

What matters is not who holds positions, but who changes them dramatically.

He shared how Plazo Sullivan integrates COT data into an AI system that detects:

Trend exhaustion

Smart money accumulation

Sentiment extremes

“In markets,” he noted, “data is noise until someone gives it voice.” That voice is structure, positioning, and timing—three pillars he hammered repeatedly throughout the TED stage.

The Simple Framework That Levels the Field

He shared a three-step method traders can use immediately:

Identify extremes
When commercials hit record longs or shorts, something big is brewing.

Track weekly deltas
Sudden flips often precede new macro cycles.

Align bias with smart money
When funds load long into weakness, retail panic is often the entry signal.

“The COT won’t tell you when to enter,” he said, “but it will reveal where the ocean is flowing. Your job is simply to surf the tide.”

Where Plazo Sullivan Is check here Taking This Next

He wrapped up with a glimpse into the next evolution of analysis at Plazo Sullivan Roche Capital:
AI that reads the Commitment of Traders Report not as one snapshot, but as a story—a shifting orchestration of institutional intent.

He projected a future where retail traders who ignore positioning will continue to be liquidity for institutional algorithms, but those who embrace structural tools like the COT will be able to compete with unprecedented clarity.

The applause was thunderous.
A simple report had just been transformed into a strategic weapon—thanks to Joseph Plazo’s mastery of markets and human behavior.