Have you ever found yourself rushing to your computer thinking you are missing the action in the stock market just to realize a few moments later that the stock market is closed on that day ?
Whether you have experienced the above scenario or you are planning ahead for well deserved break from stock market, we bring you this quick outlook on Stock Market Closed Days from 2020 to 2023 as they are set to take place around major US holidays.
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Stock Market Closed Days | Knowing the Stock Market Trading Hours
The year 2020 saw an increased number of retail traders joining the stock market following the impact of the pandemic.
Hence Many newcomers are still getting familiar with the specificities of the stock market including the stock market hours of operations.
The numbers from of the above Tweet from a Wall Street Journal article are pretty staggering.
Over 200 000 additional new accounts on ETRADE trading platform alone.
Given that millennials are more likely to prefer hyped Robinhood and Webull, once can only imagine the number of new traders in the stock market.
Maybe you happen to be one of those new traders I regularly come across in our Discord Channel at Successful Tradings.
For you and the rest of those who do not know, the regular trading hours of the stock market are Monday through Friday from 9:30AM to 4:00 PM Eastern.
Make the necessary adjustment should you like on the West Coast in California for instance like yours truly or in the other side of the Globe in Singapore.
If you are a trader you like to follow the action even after the market closes, here are some extra times to know about.
After hours trading can be important during Earnings season when stocks announce their quarterly financial results.
Typically, these events create a spike in volatility that traders can take advantage of.
However, liquidity is usually an issue in after hours trading meaning that the spreads (distance from bid to Ask price) can be quite large.
Special Hours for ETFS Options
It is worth mentioning that for Options Traders, when it come to ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) in the likes of SPY, QQQ, IWM or DIA, one can trade them until 4:15 PM Eastern time each on each weekday.
We have numerous traders still being confused about this fact simple because their brokers have restrictions in place that prevent them for taking advantage of the extra 15 minutes.
Of course, with options trading, we need to be aware of the risk involved by taking a position that late on expiration days.
Just as a reminder, SPY is the only ETF featuring 3 Expirations Days each week on Mondays, Wednesday and Fridays.
We have share in our SPY Trading System article how you can take advantage of this as an Options Trader.
Stock Market Closed Days | US Stock Markets Holidays
US stock market closed days are in general dictated by the Federal Holidays.
All major institutions tend to observe these and the stock market is no exception.
There has been rare circumstances where the stock market was closed exceptionally due to the death of a former President for instances.
I can recall Wednesday December 5 2018 was a closed day as Former President George H. W. bush was laid to rest.
The market took a pause in observance of the National day of Mourning for the former President.
Outside of those circumstances, there are about 9 Federal holidays that lead to Stock market being closed.
Here is a full table summarizing these dates between 2020 and 2023.
| Stock Market Closed Days | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
| New Year’s Day | January 1st | January 1st | N/A | January 2nd |
| Martin Luther King, Jr Day | January 20 th | January 18th | January 17th | January 16th |
| Washington’s Birthday | February 17th | February 15th | February 21st | February 20th |
| Good Friday | April 10th | April 2nd | April 15th | April 7th |
| Memorial Day | May 25th | May 31st | May 30th | May 29th |
| Independence Day | July 3rd | July 5th | July 4th | July 4th |
| Labor Day | Sept 7th | Sept 6th | Sept 5th | Sept 4th |
| Thanksgiving Day | November 26th | November 25th | November 24th | November 23rd |
| Christmas Day | December 25th | December 24th | December 26 | December 25th |
How Do Holidays Affect Traders in the Stock Market
Most studies have shown that market generally tends to be bullish round the holidays.
Perhaps we can attribute that to the emotions and psychology of the holidays.
However, given that the majority of the trading is done by computers nowadays, it will be interesting to find out if this trend prevails over the next few years and decades to come.
How Should traders and Investors Spent the time away
When stock markets are closed, investors and traders alike have a unique opportunity to take a step back to re-assess their position.
A cool and calm head is more suitable to make sound decisions rather than in the head and grind of the day-to-day action.
There are tools and platforms available to conduct research and analysis.
Here is a review of Simply Wall Street we shared here recently.