I just checked the schedules of the main U.S. stock exchanges and thought it was worth sharing this because many people are not clear about the differences between them.

The New York Stock Exchange opens at 9:30 am local time (Eastern Time) and closes at 4:00 pm. But if you're an early riser, you can trade in pre-market from 4:00 am, and if you want to continue after the official close, there is after-market trading until 8:00 pm. The Nasdaq operates exactly the same during regular trading hours, although it has its own dynamics because it concentrates more technology companies.

What fewer people know is the NYSE American, where small caps are listed. It has a slightly later pre-market, starting at 7:00 am. All close on weekends, obviously.

Now, if you work from Latin America, the schedules change quite a bit. From Lima or Bogotá, the opening is around 8:00 am local time, while from Buenos Aires it’s later, around 10:30 am. From Madrid, you have to wait until 3:30 pm. This is important if you plan to trade in real time.

Another thing to keep in mind: the stock market has holidays when it closes completely. The calendar includes New Year’s, Martin Luther King Day, Presidents Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. These U.S. stock market holidays are fixed each year, so it’s worth noting them if you do active trading. Nasdaq has a slight difference: it doesn’t close for Juneteenth like NYSE does, but it practically shares the same holiday calendar.

For those trading outside the United States, the important thing is to convert these schedules to your local time zone and mark on your calendar those U.S. stock market holidays when everything is closed. That way, you avoid surprises.