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Key Points
- The normal hours of the stock market are from 9:30 am EST to 4:00pm EST.
- Pre-market and after-hours trading allow you to place trades before the market opens or after it closes, which is important for reacting to major news stories or announcements.
- Extended hours trading is more volatile due to fewer participants, so consider using a limit order to have some control over the prices your orders are filled at.
- Robinhood is a beginner-friendly trading app that offers extended trading hours.
Not everyone is able to place trades during these hours for a number of reasons. One of the most common is having a work schedule that doesn't allow you to be by your phone.
Pre-market trading gives you the ability to place trades before the market opens.
After-hours trading allows you to place trades after the market is closed.
Both pre-market and after-hours trading are important for many reasons. For example, major news stories are often released before the stock exchanges open or after they close.
Two examples are earnings releases and economic news, such as GDP, employment, and retail sales.
In addition, the Federal Reserve often makes major announcements between the market close on Fridays and market opening on Monday mornings.
All can have a major impact on the direction of the market or on individual stocks.
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Why Use Extended Trading Hours?
Extended hours trading gives you the ability to react to those announcements, either before the market opens or after it closes.
However, do keep in mind that the markets are significantly more volatile during the extended trading hours. Since there are fewer participants at these hours, prices can go all over the place.
You may want to consider using a limit order to have some control over the prices your orders are filled at. This gives you control over the exact price that your order fills at.
In this article, we will be covering the top 7 brokerages that offer pre-market and after-hours trading, known as extended trading hours.
1. Robinhood (9:00am - 6:00pm EST)
Robinhood is abeginner friendly trading app, allowing you to trade stocks, options and crypto all from your phone.
Robinhood allows you to trade stocks from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm EST.
Since Robinhood is a very beginner friendly app, it is a great place to test the waters with extended hours stock trading.
24 Hour Market
Recently, Robinhood announced a new Robinhood 24 Hour Market feature.
This allows you to trade select popular stocks like Tesla, Amazon and Apple - 24 hours a day, 5 days a week.
There's also a handful of ETFs included. This feature, so far, is unique to Robinhood.
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Robinhood Basic Features
- Minimum Initial Investment: $0
- Available accounts: Cash, Margin
- Investments offered: Stocks, ETFs, Crypto, Options
- Fees: No Trading Commissions
- Customer support: Email, Phone, FAQ
2. Webull (4:00am - 8:00pm EST)
Webull is a more advanced commission free trading app offering a lot of great research tools.
However, beginner investors might be overwhelmed by the amount of information available.
Webull allows you to trade stocks from 4:00am to 8:00pm EST.
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Webull Basic Features
- Minimum Initial Investment: $0
- Available accounts: Cash, Margin, Retirement
- Investments offered: Stocks, ETFs, Crypto, Options
- Fees: No Trading Commissions
- Customer support: Email, Phone, Chat
3. Interactive Brokers (4:00am - 8:00pm EST)
Interactive Brokers, or IBKR, is a popular investing platform that caters to both experienced traders and beginners.
Introduced in 2019, IBKR Lite is a user-friendly option tailored for casual investors. This service allows users to make unlimited, commission-free trades of U.S.-listed stocks and exchange-traded funds.
Notably, Interactive Brokers provides access to a wide range of investment options, including options, futures, mutual funds, crypto, and fixed income, across various global markets.
With IBKR Lite, there are no mandatory account minimums or inactivity fees, making it an appealing choice for those looking to start investing hassle-free.
Additionally, the platform offers competitive interest rates on cash balances, the opportunity to earn extra income through their Stock Yield Enhancement Program, and access to low financing rates for borrowing against your account.
Through TWS, you can get access to the extended trading hours.
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4. Firstrade (8:00am - 8:00pm EST)
Firstrade is another highly rated investment platform.
It provides comprehensive research from some of the top providers in the financial industry, including Morningstar, Zacks, and Benzinga.
In addition, they offer trading in over 11,000 mutual funds, commission-free.
Most other brokers charge fees on mutual funds. It’s also an excellent platform if you want to trade options, since it’s one of the few brokerages that charge no contract fee, in addition to being commission-free.
Firstrade allows you to trade stocks from 8:00am to 8:00pm EST.
Firstrade Basic Features
- Minimum Initial Investment: $0
- Available accounts:Cash, Margin, Joint, Retirement, Custodial, Trust
- Investments offered: Stocks, Bonds, ETFs, Mutual Funds, OTC Stocks, Options
- Fees: No Trading Commissions
- Customer support: Phone, Email, Chat
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5. TradeStation (8:00am - 8:00pm EST)
TradeStation is widely acknowledged to be one of the top investment platforms for both advanced and active traders.
Part of that reputation owes to the fact that TradeStation was designed specifically for professional and institutional traders. They offer all types of investment options, including cryptocurrencies.
TradeStation allows you to trade stocks from 8:00am to 8:00pm EST.
TradeStation Basic Features
- Minimum Initial Investment: $0 Standard Account, $2,000 Select Account
- Available accounts: Cash, Margin, Joint, Retirement
- Investments offered: Stocks, Bonds, ETFs, Mutual Funds, Options, Futures, Crypto
- Fees: No Trading Commissions (except for Mutual Funds)
- Customer support: Phone, Chat
6. Charles Schwab (7:00am - 8:00pm EST)
Given that Charles Schwab is pretty much good at everything, it’s not possible to identify specifically what they do best.
If it’s possible to say, it may be in the area of customer support. They offer 24/7 live support, as well as a network of branches in and around major cities across the country. Schwab offers virtually unlimited investment options, and is suitable for both self-directed investors, as well as anyone interested in a managed portfolio option.
Charles Schwab allows you to trade stocks from 7:00am to 8:00pm EST.
Charles Schwab Basic Features
- Minimum Initial Investment: $0
- Available accounts: Cash, Margin, Joint, Retirement, Custodial, Trust
- Investments offered: Stocks, Bonds, ETFs, Mutual Funds, Options, Futures, CDs
- Fees: No Trading Commissions (including some Mutual Funds)
- Customer support: 24/7 by Phone, Email, Chat
7. Fidelity (7:00am - 8:00pm EST)
As the second-largest investment brokerage firm in the world and Schwab’s primary competitor, the two platforms are just about equal in almost every regard.
Fidelity can accommodate investors at all levels but is also well suited to both self-directed investors and those looking for managed investment options.
And again, like Schwab, they offer top-notch customer service, 24 hours a day, seven days per week. They have a network of several hundred branches around the country, in case you like good old-fashioned face-to-face contact with your investing activities.
Fidelity allows you to trade stocks from 7:00am to 8:00pm EST.
Fidelity Basic Features
- Minimum Initial Investment: $0
- Available accounts: Cash, Margin, Joint, Retirement
- Investments offered: Stocks, Bonds, Mutual Funds, ETFs, Options
- Fees: No Trading Commissions (including some Mutual Funds)
- Customer support: 24/7 by Phone, Email, Chat
