|
After-hours trading is stock trading that occurs after the traditional trading hours of the major exchanges, such as the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Stock Market. Since 1985 the regular trading hours have been from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time. 
Example chart of extended hours trading, via Google Finance Trading outside these regular hours is not a new phenomenon, but it has generally been limited to high net-worth investors and institutional investors, such as mutual funds. The emergence of private trading systems, known as electronic communication networks, or ECNs, has allowed individual investors to participate in after-hours trading. After Hours trading on a day with a normal session is 4 - 8 p.m. EST. After-hours trading is frequently abbreviated on message boards as AH. That has led people to jokingly refer to after-hours trading as "amateur hour", as the people who trade during that time are mostly small retail traders and not institutional investors, and, barring material news, it frequently does not reflect how trading will be the next morning. Trading may also occur before the traditional trading hours, but that is known as pre-market trading.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia : Market Trading |
