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Article analysis:

The article titled "Coffee Report Focus #2a: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about the COT *but were afraid to ask" provides a detailed overview of the Commitment of Traders (COT) report and its importance in making price forecasts for coffee traders. The author explains the three versions of the COT, how to read it, and shares a key metric that is not provided by most other distributors of this report.

The article appears to be informative and well-researched, providing valuable insights into the workings of the coffee market. However, there are some potential biases and one-sided reporting in the article that need to be considered.

Firstly, the author seems to have a positive bias towards speculators and their role in the market. While acknowledging that they are often maligned, the author argues that they are necessary for natural hedgers to hedge with. This view may not be shared by all traders, as some may see speculators as destabilizing forces in the market.

Secondly, while discussing the Supplemental COT version, which shows positions of index funds, the author refers to them as "dumb money" because they do not care about technicals or fundamentals of commodities. This statement may be seen as dismissive or derogatory towards index funds and their investment strategies.

Thirdly, while discussing traders' attempts to outsmart index funds through roll and rebalance operations, the author advises against trying to front-run these operations unless index positions are very large. However, this advice is not supported by any evidence or data on successful or unsuccessful attempts at front-running index funds.

Overall, while informative and well-researched, this article could benefit from more balanced reporting on different perspectives on speculators and index funds in the coffee market. Additionally, more evidence could be provided for claims made regarding successful or unsuccessful attempts at front-running index funds.