Remember when your biggest trading worry was whether the market would be open on Presidents’ Day? Well, buckle up buttercup, because Nasdaq just dropped some news that might make sleep even more optional than it already is for day traders.
The exchange giant is officially asking the SEC for permission to keep the lights on 24/7, Monday through Friday. That’s right – they want to turn stock trading into the financial equivalent of a 7-Eleven, minus the questionable hot dogs and energy drinks (though let’s be honest, those might become essential).
Why Now? Because the World Doesn’t Sleep
Nasdaq President Tal Cohen isn’t just throwing darts at a board here. Foreign investors have been pouring money into U.S. markets like it’s going out of style – we’re talking a 97% increase since 2019, hitting $17 trillion by mid-2024. When someone in Tokyo wants to buy Tesla at 3 AM their time (which is, inconveniently, 2 PM Eastern), they currently have to wait or deal with sketchy after-hours trading that’s about as liquid as concrete.
The numbers don’t lie: 56 new ETFs tracking the Nasdaq 100 have launched in five years, and 98% of them were created outside the U.S. Apparently, the rest of the world is really into our stock market party, but we keep making them wait outside until we’re ready.
The Good, The Bad, and The Caffeinated
Here’s where it gets interesting (and slightly terrifying). Twenty-four-hour trading sounds awesome until you realize what it actually means. Sure, you could theoretically buy Amazon stock while binge-watching Netflix at 2 AM, but you’d be trading in a market with about as much liquidity as a desert. Low liquidity equals higher volatility and bigger spreads – basically, it’s going to cost you more to make moves when everyone else is sleeping.
Even the companies themselves are side-eyeing this idea. About half of Nasdaq’s listed companies told them “thanks, but maybe let’s think about this” in a recent survey. They’re worried about liquidity and how corporate actions would work when the market never closes. Fair point – imagine trying to coordinate a stock split when traders in three different time zones are all doing their thing.
The Technical Reality Check
Here’s the thing that should make everyone pause: U.S. markets process millions of messages per second. That’s not a typo. Making this work 24/5 isn’t just about flipping a switch – it’s like trying to perform heart surgery on a marathon runner mid-race.
But Nasdaq seems confident they can pull it off, targeting the second half of 2026 for launch (pending SEC approval, which could take a while). The NYSE already jumped in line last fall with their own proposal for 22-hour trading on NYSE Arca.
The Bottom Line
Will 24-hour trading happen? Probably. Should you start setting 3 AM alarms to check your portfolio? Probably not. This is more about making U.S. markets accessible to global investors than turning every American into a sleep-deprived trading zombie.
Though let’s be real – some of us were already there anyway.