When Do The Markets Close

[cpatte7372]

Hello,

I have a dumb question. Can someone please tell me when do the markets actually close? I thought they closed at 4pm. I purchased shares today and at 4pm I was very pleased with the outcome. I went to the gym came back looked at Interactive Brokers TWS and saw that my shares had gone down in price.

I thought that buying and selling of shares ended at 4pm.

Can someone explain?

Cheers

Carlton

[cpatte7372]

Hi,

Please ignore this thread. I'm an idiot

[cpatte7372]

On second thought,

Can someone please tell me exactly when are traders no longer allowed to trade stocks.

I see from one of my charts that the price of a particular stock (SNWL) was going up after 5pm. However, I was not permitted to purchase those shares.

Can someone explain?

Cheers

Carlton

[soylent]

Hi Carlton --

Stocks run from 9:30 to 4pm during 'regular session'.

You can pretty much ignore 'extended hours' but it's from 8:00am-9:30am (morning session) and 4pm->6pm.

There is rarely volume in these sessions. Some people (people that like to play gaps, etc) will try to use these pre/post sessions to calculate retracements/etc.

I don't bother with them. Some people 'specialize' in them. But, they shouldn't impact most traders.

-c

[soylent]

also: to answer your question: You must switch to 'extended hours' trading to place orders after 4pm or before 9:30am.

If you DO buy/sell after hours: ALWAYS USE A LIMIT ORDER! The spreads are massive...

I only bought once before market open. It was a mistake -- I could have gotten a better fill 10 minutes into market and had less risk, too... But, anyhow... I was more naive than I am now...

-c

[cpatte7372]

Hi Soylent,

Thanks for the information mate.

Carlton

[DuaneG]

If you DO buy/sell after hours: ALWAYS USE A LIMIT ORDER! The spreads are massive...

Absolutely. The trick with pre and post market trading on ECN's is the fact that there is no Market Maker to buffer the price action between the bid and the ask. Basically between the wide spreads, lower liquidity and no institutional market maker, pre and post trading is simply a agreed transaction between traders. Be careful, the SOES bandits are still alive and well in post market trading.

[cpatte7372]

Duane,

Quick question.

If one of my securities closed at, say $10.00 at 4pm(market close), what is my stock worth at 9:28am, the next day?(just before market opens)?

Cheers

Carlton

[DuaneG]

Hi Carlton,

If you have the answer to that one, you would have found the holy grail of trading. Actually it all depends on what happens in the post market trading session of the current day and what happens in the pre market of the following day. If there is news, either positive or negative, it could affect the price dramatically. The same goes for what happens across the globe overnight. The world can be a pretty unstable place when the markets are closed, so one can never be sure of how things will behave in the premarket. If the volume is strong enough in the post market trading session, rallies and sell offs can be amplified in the pre market the next day. If volume isn't heavy, rallies and selloffs can be priced into the open of pre market trading.

[cpatte7372]

Hello Duane,

Thanks again.

As silly as this may seem, I actually thought that when the markets closed trading actually stopped. However, I looked at my shares at around 1am last night and I noticed that my shares on gone up by about $5. I thought, thats nice. But I when I woke up this morning and looked at my shares at 8am they were way, way down by $15. I thought, thats crap.

So, this leads me onto to my most important question. Would it be wise to for me to close out my positions at the end of the trading and re-open them at a more favourable time during the following trading day? Simply because so much can occur post and pre-market trading hours.(especially as I don't plan to trade post/pre market)

I eagerly await to hear your opinion.


As a side note, you are most probably aware I use Interactive Broker, and I on one occassion accidentally tried to place a trade during post trading hours and I the application prevented me from doing so. Is there any reason why?

Cheers mate.

Carlton

[DuaneG]

Hi Carlton,

This is kind of a tricky question as it all depends on what kind of trading style you want to pursue. Daytraders tend to liquidate all positions at the close, and at the very least, in post market trading. Position traders on the other hand don't hesitate to hold a position overnight and sometimes even over the course of a few days. As you've noticed, strange things can happen in pre and post market trading. Some traders do very well during these times, others don't have as much success. I think the first thing you want to determine is what kind of trading style works best for you. To be a consistently profitable day trader, one must have significant buying power to get the best leverage possible if you plan to be in and out of multiple positions over the course of a day. If you want to focus on longer term moves, but risk holding positions overnight, then position trading may be worth something looking into. Every strategy has its pros and cons. You need to look at your situation and your expectations and choose the best vehicle to achieve your goals.

As far as your question about IB is concerned, I would check with them directly as it may be a setting that is applied to your account.

[cpatte7372]

Hello Duane,

Once again you have provided some excellent advice. I really appreciate your comments

Thanks

Carlton