Extended and Overnight Hours Trading
January 2026
The following are common risks associated with trading in extended sessions that you should be aware of. The United States market is open between 9:30am ET and 4:00pm ET (“Core Trading Session” or “Core Hours”) Monday through Friday (excluding Exchange holidays). Extended Hours Trading Sessions is composed of two distinct periods outside of Core Hours, a Pre-Market Trading Session (4:00am ET to 9:30am ET) and a Post-Market Trading Session (4:00pm ET to 8:00pm ET). Overnight Trading Sessions* consist of time period between 8:00pm ET and 4:00am ET, the following day. Overnight and Extended Hours trading may not be suitable for all investors. Please familiarize yourself with the disclosures below for additional information. There may be limited customer support during Extended and Overnight Trading Hours.
Risk of Lower Liquidity.
Liquidity refers to the ability of market participants to buy and sell securities. Generally, the more orders that are available in a market, the greater the liquidity. Liquidity is important because with greater liquidity it is easier for investors to buy or sell securities, and as a result, investors are more likely to pay or receive a competitive price for securities purchased or sold. There may be lower liquidity in extended hours trading as compared to regular market hours. As a result, your limit order may only be partially executed, or not at all.
Risk of Higher Volatility.
Volatility refers to the changes in price that securities undergo when trading. Generally, the higher the volatility of a security, the greater its price swings. There may be greater volatility in extended hours trading than in regular market hours. As a result, your order may only be partially executed, or not at all, or you may receive an inferior price in extended hours trading than you would during regular market hours.
Risk of Changing Prices.
The prices of securities traded in extended hours trading may not reflect the prices either at the end of regular market hours or upon the opening the next morning. As a result, you may receive a different or inferior price in extended hours trading than you would during regular market hours.
Risk of Unlinked Markets.
Depending on the extended hours trading system or the time of day, the prices displayed on a particular extended hours trading system may not reflect the prices in other concurrently operating extended hours trading systems dealing in the same securities. Accordingly, you may receive an inferior price in one extended hours trading system than you would in another extended hours trading system.
Risk of News Announcements.
Normally, issuers make news announcements that may affect the price of their securities outside regular market hours. Similarly, important macroeconomic financial information is frequently announced outside of regular market hours. In extended hours trading, these announcements may occur during trading, and if combined with lower liquidity and higher volatility, may cause an exaggerated and unsustainable effect on the price of a security.
Risk of Wider Spreads.
The spread refers to the difference in price between what you can buy a security for and what you can sell it for. Lower volumes and higher price fluctuations in extended hours trading may result in wider than normal spreads for a particular security.
Non-Reg NMS.
Orders are received on a not held basis, and while SageTrader will attempt to obtain the best available price on a best-efforts basis, during Overnight and Extended Hours Trading Sessions certain aspects of Reg NMS may not apply.
Eligible Securities.
Not all securities may be readily available during Overnight and Extended Hours Trading. The availability of a particular security may vary day to day based on a number of factors, including but not limited to the interest in that security during a given Overnight and Extended Hours Trading Sessions.
* Orders received outside of the Overnight Session (orders received in the Core or Extended Hour Sessions) will not be eligible for the Overnight Session. Clients that wish to take part in the Overnight Session will explicitly need to enter new orders during the Overnight Session. Any open orders at the end of the second Extended Hours Session (8:00pm ET) will be automatically cancelled back to the customer. Similarly, any open orders at the end of the Overnight session (4:00am ET) will be canceled back to the customer. Any executions that take place between 8:00pm ET and Midnight are considered part of the next trading day.