I just recently realized that understanding the trading hours for US stocks really needs to be taken seriously; otherwise, it’s very easy to get them mixed up. Now it’s winter time. Here in Taiwan, regular trading hours are from 10:30 PM to 5:00 AM the next day, which is one hour different from daylight saving time—this is an important detail.

There are three main exchanges for US stocks: the New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ, and the American Stock Exchange. They each operate independently. Although in most cases their market opening and closing times are the same, the prices can still differ slightly. If you want to trade US stocks, it’s best to first get clear on the timing of pre-market trading (4:30 PM in Taiwan) and after-hours trading (from 5:00 AM to 9:00 AM in Taiwan), so you don’t miss opportunities.

What’s even more important to pay attention to is the days when the US stock market is closed. In 2026 alone, there are several days for legal holidays when the market will be shut down, such as New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Washington’s Birthday, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas—these are all no-trading days. Especially during the week of Thanksgiving, it’s not only closed on Thanksgiving itself, but it will also close three hours early the next day. The day before Christmas is also a three-hour early close—these details are very easy to overlook.

The pitfall I fall into most often is forgetting that the US stock market is closed, and then when I try to place an order, I only find out that I can’t enter the market at all. Especially when crossing between daylight saving time and winter time, the one-hour time difference adjustment can easily confuse many people. My suggestion is to confirm in advance before trading whether the market is closed that day, so you don’t waste your time.