How To Prep For Upcoming Stock Market Holidays (2022, 2023, 2024)
The saying “money never sleeps” may be true. But, that doesn’t mean that the stock market never takes a day off. In fact, you can usually expect about 10 stock market holidays each year. Even Wall Street needs to take a break sometimes. For investors, these closures mean that you have to be particularly careful with the timing of your trades. Let’s take a quick look at why timing your trades is so important as well as a list of stock market holidays to be aware of for the upcoming years.
NOTE: The following list of stock market holidays is up-to-date as of June 2022. This information comes directly from the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ. Please note that specific markets such as the NYSE American Equities, NYSE Arca Equities, NYSE Chicago and NYSE National late trading sessions may have slightly different trading hours. All times below are in EST.
Timing Can be Everything
There are a lot of popular phrases that circulate on Wall Street. For example, many of these sayings probably sound familiar:
- “Be fearful when others are greedy.”
- “There is always free cheese in a mousetrap.”
- “Bulls make money, bears make money, pigs get slaughtered.”
- “The stock market transfers wealth from the impatient to the patient.”
- “Time in the market is more important than timing the market.”
For the most part, these types of phrases nearly always ring true. The only issue that I have is with that last one. When it comes to investing, properly timing your investment can make all the difference.
For example, someone who started investing in 2018 but sold off at the bottom of the March 2020 crash would have a net negative return after nearly 2 years of investing. But, an investor who thought to buy the dip in March 2020 would be up nearly 50% by the time Fall rolled around. Despite investing for just a fraction of the time, Investor #2 made significantly more money. This is the power of properly timing your investments.
When buying individual stocks or (especially) options timing becomes even more important. So, what does this have to do with stock market holidays?
Why Do Stock Market Holidays Matter?
The last thing that you want is to get caught off guard by a stock market closure. These holidays can sometimes be accidental disasters for certain investors. For example, let’s say you opened a new position on Monday, January 11th, 2022. You only planned to keep this position open for one week and were going to close it Friday. But, you didn’t realize that Friday, April 15th was Good Friday and the markets are closed. Now, you are unable to close your position. Over the weekend, new information comes out that negatively impacts your stocks. When the market finally opens on Monday, your position is down 10%.
This is just one example of how being unaware of stock market holidays can leave you in a lurch. This risk is especially amplified for investors who trade options, futures, and derivatives.
With that in mind, here is a complete breakdown of all stock market holidays in 2022, 2023, and 2024.
In 2022, the NYSE & NASDAQ are closed for the following holidays:
Martin Luther King Jr Day – Monday, January 17th
Washington’s Birthday – Monday, February 21st
Good Friday – Friday, April 15th
Memorial Day – Monday, May 30th
Juneteenth – Monday, June 20th (Observed)
Independence Day – Monday, July 4th
Labor Day – Monday, September 5th
Thanksgiving – Thursday, November 24th. The market will also close early at 1 PM Friday, November 25th, 2022
Christmas – Monday, December 26th (Observed)
In 2023, the NYSE & NASDAQ are closed for the following holidays:
New Years Day – Monday, January 2nd (Observed)
Martin Luther King Jr Day – Monday, January 16th
Washington’s Birthday – Monday, February 20th
Good Friday – Friday, April 7th
Memorial Day – Monday, May 29th
Juneteenth – Monday, June 19th
Independence Day – Tuesday, July 4th. The market will also close early at 1 PM on Monday, July 3rd
Labor Day – Monday, September 4th
Thanksgiving – Thursday, November 23rd. The market will also close early at 1 PM Friday, November 24th, 2022
Christmas – Monday, December 25th
In 2024 the NYSE & NASDAQ are closed for the following holidays:
New Years Day – Monday, January 1st
Martin Luther King Jr Day – Monday, January 15th
Washington’s Birthday – Monday, February 19th
Good Friday – Friday, March 29th
Memorial Day – Monday, May 27th
Juneteenth – Wednesday, June 19th
Independence Day – Thursday, July 4th. The market will also close early at 1 PM Wednesday, July 3rd, 2024
Labor Day – Monday, September 2nd
Thanksgiving – Thursday, November 28th. The market will also close early at 1 PM Friday, November 29th, 2024 (the day after Thanksgiving)
Christmas – Wednesday, December 25th. The market will also close early at 1 PM Tuesday, December 24
In 2025, the NYSE & NASDAQ are closed for the following holidays:
New Years Day – Wednesday, January 1st
Martin Luther King Jr Day – Monday, January 20th
Washington’s Birthday – Monday, February 17th
Good Friday – Friday, April 18th
Memorial Day – Monday, May 26th
Juneteenth – Thursday, June 19th
Independence Day – Friday, July 4th. The market will also close at 1 PM Thursday, July 3rd, 2022
Labor Day – Monday, September 1st
Thanksgiving – Thursday, November 27th. The market will also close at 1 PM Friday, November 28th, 2022
Christmas – Thursday, December 26th. The market will also close at 1 PM Wednesday, December 24th, 2022
Investing in Stocks
Although the stock market hardly ever closes, you can still expect it to be closed for approximately 10 days per year. Be sure to keep these dates in mind and time your investments appropriately. Additionally, please note that stock market holidays are subject to change depending on new updates.
I hope that you’ve enjoyed this list of stock market holidays. Please remember that I’m not a financial advisor and am just offering my own research and commentary. As usual, please base all investment decisions on your own due diligence.