If you’re organizing the 2026 US stock trading schedule recently, you may find that many people still can’t figure out the switch between daylight saving time and standard time. On top of that, there are a bunch of holidays to pay attention to this year, so I decided to list all the key points.

First and most importantly: it’s already in standard time (winter time). The regular trading hours for US stocks are from 10:30 PM to 5:00 AM the next day in Taiwan time. If you’re used to pre-market or after-hours trading, pre-market runs from 4:30 PM to 10:30 PM, and after-hours runs from 5:00 AM to 9:00 AM. During daylight saving time, these hours move forward by one hour—remember this, or you might easily get the entry time wrong.

I’ve already compiled the dates for US stock market closures in 2026. There will be complete market closures on New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Washington’s Birthday, Good Friday, and Memorial Day. Something a bit special is Independence Day: since July 4 falls on a Saturday, the market will close early on Friday, July 3. You also need to watch around Thanksgiving and Christmas—on the day after Thanksgiving and the day before Christmas, the market will close three hours early. If you have important positions to manage, make sure to check the 2026 US stock market closure dates in advance, so you don’t find the market is closed just when you want to trade during a holiday.

The US stock market has three main exchanges. The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is the largest, with more than 3,500 listed stocks. NASDAQ mainly focuses on technology stocks—Microsoft and Apple are listed there. The American Stock Exchange focuses mainly on small- and mid-cap stocks. Although the exchanges operate independently, their opening and closing times are basically synchronized, so you don’t need to worry too much about time differences.

If you haven’t started trading US stocks yet, it’s not too late to open an account now. Many platforms offer welcome benefits for new users—deposit $50 to get started quickly, and you can also try a demo account. Personally, I first used a demo account to get familiar with the interface and the order process, and only after I felt everything was fine did I switch to live trading with real money. What about you—do you have plans to start trading US stocks?