Traders looking to trade at any hour of the day now have the ability to swap stocks 24 hours a day during the week. A handful of brokers offer all-day trading, also known as overnight trading, so if you’re hunting for a midnight stock snack, you’ll need an account there to feed your urge.
Here are the brokers offering 24-hour stock trading and what you need to watch out for.
24-hour stock trading: Where you can get started
Typically brokers offering overnight trading open from Sunday 8 pm ET to Friday 8 pm ET – effectively 24 hour trading five days a week. The overnight session fills in the gap between the pre-market session, regular session and after-hours session:
- Pre-market trading: 4 am ET to 9:30 am ET
- Regular trading: 9:30 am ET to 4 pm ET
- After-hours trading: 4 pm ET to 8 pm ET
- Overnight trading: 8 pm ET to 4 am ET
You have a few choices when it comes to trading stocks and funds overnight, including the following brokers.
Robinhood
At Robinhood you’ll be able to trade more than 900 stocks and exchange-traded funds, including large-caps such as the Magnificent 7 stocks and other top large-cap funds. The brokerage has quickly expanded the number of available securities since starting overnight trading in mid-2023.
Interactive Brokers
Interactive Brokers offers a robust selection of securities after-hours, including more than 10,000 U.S. stocks, ETFs and U.S. equity index options – virtually all you’ll likely want. Clients need to request permission to trade in the night session, and permission is typically granted overnight.
Charles Schwab
Charles Schwab offers overnight trading through its well-regarded thinkorswim platform. The brokerage offers a narrower selection of funds – just 23 as of April 2024 – but this selection may suffice for those looking to trade the most liquid names at one of the best brokers.
E-Trade
E-Trade’s overnight offering is more limited than others’ but it does provide access to more than 20 funds, including some of the most popular large-cap ETFs, notably those based on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq-100. So you can get long the market in the overnight session.
Best brokers for after-hours trading and pre-market trading
If you don’t quite need round-the-clock trading, you’ll have plenty of other brokers offering the ability to trade in extended hours, including pre-market hours and after-hours. Some brokers may offer pre-market or after-market hours that are shorter than the complete extended session.
Besides the brokers above, you can also trade outside regular hours with the following brokers (all times Eastern):
- Fidelity Investments: Fidelity offers extended hours from 7 am to 9:30 am and from 4 pm to 8 pm.
- Merrill Edge: Merrill Edge offers extended hours from 7 am to 9:30 am and from 4 pm to 8 pm.
- Webull: Webull offers full extended hours – 4 am to 9:30 am and from 4 pm to 8 pm.
- Tastytrade: Tastytrade offers extended hours from 8 am to 9:30 am and from 4 pm to 8 pm.
- Ally Invest: Ally Invest offers extended hours from 8 am to 9:30 am and from 4 pm to 5 pm.
- Firstrade: Firstrade offers extended hours from 8 am to 9:30 am and from 4 pm to 8 pm.
This list of brokers offering extended-hours trading is not exhaustive and other brokers may also offer the feature. A great place to begin is looking at the best brokers for stock trading.
Risks and drawbacks of 24-hour stock trading
If you need to get a trade executed, 24-hour trading can make that happen, though it presents some other downsides and drawbacks.
- Less liquid: Stocks and securities trading in the overnight market are less liquid than in the regular session. Fewer traders are trading a narrower range of stocks, meaning the market lacks a lot of depth. You may not be able to buy and sell at all, and the bid-ask spread will likely be wider than in the regular session, costing you money.
- Limited securities selection: While major securities such as Microsoft and Apple may have plenty of liquidity for retail traders, don’t expect that small-cap stock to be available. That and thousands of other stocks could be available overnight but may not be.
- Uncertain prices: While exchanges are required to show the best price across national venues during regular hours, you may not be able to see the next pricing overnight.
- Higher volatility: The lack of liquidity also means that prices can be volatile overnight. A stock may soar or plunge after-hours but still be largely unaffected when the market opens the next morning.
- Ability to trade on a whim: The ability to trade 24 hours a day may be just too tempting for some who are apt to trade on a whim and “need action.” The fact that “the casino is open all night” may seriously hurt the bankrolls of many traders.
For those looking to build long-term wealth, the advent of 24-hour trading will have no impact at all on their ability to amass wealth. Here are the key steps to becoming a millionaire.
Bottom line
The ability to trade 24 hours may help those with a clear read on the stock market, but long-term buy-and-hold investors may not find the extra hours all that necessary to invest. Less liquidity, a limited range of stocks and uncertain pricing make overnight trading riskier than regular trading.
