You wake up, grab your coffee, and pull up your brokerage app only to see... nothing. No tickers moving. No pre-market green or red. It's a weirdly hollow feeling, honestly. You start wondering if your internet is down or if the global economy finally just took a nap. Then the thought hits you: is today a holiday for the stock market?
It happens to the best of us.
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Nasdaq don't follow the same schedule as your local bank or the post office. Sometimes they're open when everyone else is off, and occasionally they shut down for reasons that catch retail traders totally off guard.
Checking the Calendar: Sunday, January 18, 2026
If you're asking this right now, on Sunday, January 18, 2026, the answer is a simple "no" because it's the weekend. However, there is a massive "but" coming up. Tomorrow, Monday, January 19, 2026, is Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
The stock market will be closed tomorrow.
Both the NYSE and Nasdaq observe MLK Day as a full market holiday. This means no regular trading hours, no extended hours, and a complete pause on the floor of the exchange. If you have limit orders sitting out there, they’re just going to hang out in limbo until Tuesday morning.
Why the Stock Market Schedule is So Weird
You’d think a global financial hub would be open 24/7, right? Crypto is. But the traditional equity markets are old school. They stick to a rigid 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM EST schedule, and they are very protective of their holidays.
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Essentially, the exchange operators like ICE (which owns the NYSE) and Nasdaq Inc. believe that liquidity—the ease of buying and selling—drops too low when the big banks and institutional players are on vacation. If the "big money" isn't at their desks, the market becomes volatile and weird. So, they just shut the whole thing down.
Interestingly, the bond market follows a slightly different set of rules. The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) actually recommends the bond market schedule, and they sometimes call for early 2:00 PM closes on days when the stock market stays open until 4:00 PM. It’s a mess to keep track of if you don’t have the calendar bookmarked.
The Standard Holiday Lineup
Most years, the market takes nine official holidays. These are the days when the "closed" sign is firmly on the door:
- New Year’s Day
- Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
- Washington’s Birthday (Presidents' Day)
- Good Friday
- Memorial Day
- Juneteenth National Independence Day
- Independence Day
- Labor Day
- Thanksgiving Day (with an early close the following day)
- Christmas Day
Wait, did you notice Good Friday on there? That one always trips people up. It’s not a federal holiday in the United States. Your mail still comes. Most offices are open. But the stock market? Closed. This dates back decades and is one of those quirks of Wall Street culture that just never changed.
Is Today a Holiday for the Stock Market? The "Half-Day" Trap
Nothing is worse than expecting a full day of trading and realizing the party ends at 1:00 PM.
The stock market loves an early exit. Usually, the day after Thanksgiving (Black Friday) and Christmas Eve (if it falls on a weekday) see the markets shut down at 1:00 PM EST.
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Why does this matter? Well, if you’re a day trader or someone trying to hedge a position before a long weekend, that 1:00 PM cutoff comes fast. Volume usually dies by noon. If you’re trying to move a large block of a low-cap stock at 12:45 PM on an early-close day, you're gonna have a bad time. The spreads widen, and you'll likely get a terrible fill.
What Happens to Your Orders?
Say you forgot it was a holiday. You place a market order on a Monday morning when the exchange is closed. Most modern brokers like Robinhood, Fidelity, or Charles Schwab will just queue that order. It sits in their system until the next time the exchange opens.
But be careful.
If major news breaks over the holiday—let's say a geopolitical event or a massive tech company scandal—the price at Tuesday's open might be $10 higher or lower than where it closed on Friday. If you have a market order sitting there, you’ll get filled at whatever that new, potentially crazy price is. This is why seasoned traders usually prefer limit orders when heading into a holiday break.
International Markets: A Different Story
Just because the US markets are closed doesn't mean the world stops.
If is today a holiday for the stock market in New York, the London Stock Exchange (LSE) or the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) might be screaming along at full speed.
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For example, on Thanksgiving, while Americans are eating turkey and the NYSE is dark, the FTSE 100 in London is trading normally. If you trade American Depositary Receipts (ADRs), which are shares of foreign companies that trade on US exchanges, this gets even funkier. The underlying stock might be moving in its home country while the US ticker stays frozen.
The Crypto Exception
If you absolutely must trade, there’s always the 24/7 casino of cryptocurrency. Bitcoin doesn't care about Martin Luther King Jr. or Christmas.
However, there is a documented "holiday effect" in crypto. Often, when the traditional markets close for a long weekend, crypto volatility actually drops. Why? Because a lot of the institutional liquidity that drives big moves in Bitcoin comes from the same desks that trade ETFs and stocks. When those traders go to the Hamptons or the mountains for a three-day weekend, the crypto markets can sometimes get boring and "sideways."
How to Prepare for the Next Market Closure
Don't let a holiday catch you with an open, unhedged position if you’re not comfortable with weekend risk.
First, always check the official NYSE holiday schedule at the start of the quarter. Just put it in your phone. Second, keep an eye on the "VIX" or the fear gauge. Sometimes, right before a long holiday weekend, you'll see a small spike in the VIX as traders buy protection (options) against something bad happening while they can't trade.
Honestly, holidays are usually a gift. The market is a high-stress environment. Use the time to review your journal or just stop looking at candles for 48 hours. Your mental health—and your P&L—will probably thank you.
Actionable Steps for the Next 24 Hours
Since the market is closed tomorrow, January 19, for MLK Day, here is exactly what you should do instead of staring at a blank screen:
- Audit your open positions: Check if you have any "Good 'Til Canceled" (GTC) orders that might trigger at Tuesday's open. Decide if you want them active in case of a "gap up" or "gap down."
- Verify the Tuesday Open: The market will resume normal operations at 9:30 AM EST on Tuesday, January 20. Pre-market trading usually begins as early as 4:00 AM EST on most major platforms.
- Check Economic Indicators: Look at the economic calendar for Tuesday. Often, the government drops data like CPI or jobs numbers right after a holiday to make up for lost time.
- Review the Bond Market: Remember that the bond market (fixed income) often takes different breaks. If you trade Treasury ETFs like TLT or IEF, double-check the SIFMA holiday recommendations to see if they align with the NYSE.
The stock market is a marathon, not a sprint. One missed Monday isn't going to break your portfolio, but being unaware of the schedule might lead to a costly mistake. Take the day off. The tickers will be there on Tuesday.