Nasdaq 2012 – 2013 Holiday Schedule

With just over 2,700 publicly-traded companies, the Nasdaq Stock Exchange is the world’s second largest stock market.

Its normal trading hours are from 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM (Eastern Time) Monday through Friday. But there are certain days it isn’t open for business.

On Tuesday, July 3, 2012, Friday, November 23, 2012 (the day after Thanksgiving), and Monday, December 24, 2012 this market will close early at 1:00 PM. Crossing Session orders will be accepted beginning at 1:00 PM for continuous executions until 1:30 PM on these dates.

Also, pre-market trading hours run from 7:00 AM to 9:30 AM and post-market trades run from 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM.

Things to Know about the Nasdaq Holiday Schedule

It’s important to note, although the third Monday in February has become popularly known as “President’s Day”, the Nasdaq Stock Exchange still follows the original designation of “Washington’s Birthday” as an exchange holiday.

That’s because Wall Street is very traditional. In fact, until 1953, it had observed Lincoln’s birthday (February 12), Columbus Day (October 12), Veterans Day (November 11), and often Election Day (the first Tuesday of November).

But “Washington’s Birthday” was first declared a federal holiday by an 1879 act of Congress and then modified by The Monday Holiday Law, enacted in 1968. That law shifted the date of the commemoration of Washington’s Birthday from February 22 to the third Monday in February, which is used to this day.

It’s worth mentioning, whenever a president dies, the exchanges select a day of mourning. For example: January 2nd, 2007, was chosen as the day to mourn the passing of President Gerald Ford.

The Nasdaq exchange also closes on the Christian holidays of Good Friday and Christmas. But since 1971, it has also closed unexpectedly for a number of reasons:

• Power blackouts (July 14, 1977)


• Hurricanes (September 27, 1985)


• Presidential Funerals (1972, 1973, 1994, 2004, 2007)


• Terrorist Attacks (September 11-14, 2011)

Tracking the Nasdaq

The Nasdaq was originally formed by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) in 1971. Today, it is owned and operated by the Nasdaq OMX Group (Nasdaq: NADQ ).

Although you can find a number of financial, consumer, biotech, and industrial companies, as the world’s first electronic stock market, most stocks trading on the Nasdaq are technology and internet related.

These firms are typically more speculative than those trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), which makes the Nasdaq exchange typically more volatile as well.

But there are several other ways to reduce your risk exposure. The Powershares QQQ Trust Series 1 (Nasdaq: QQQ ), is an example of an exchange traded fund (ETF) that only tracks stocks in the Nasdaq 100 index.