Just realized people always ask me about the stock market during holiday weekends - so heads up, the stock market is completely closed on Memorial Day. All the major exchanges like NYSE and Nasdaq shut down, so no trading that day.

Memorial Day is on the last Monday of May every year. It started way back after the Civil War as Decoration Day to honor fallen soldiers, and eventually became the federal holiday we know today. They officially changed the name to Memorial Day in 1967, then made it a permanent federal holiday in 1971 as part of that Uniform Monday Holiday Act thing.

Since it's a federal holiday, pretty much everything financial closes - stock market, bond markets, the whole deal. It gives traders and investors a chance to actually observe the day. Bond markets also follow the same schedule, so if you're trading anything, just mark it on your calendar.

If you're planning trades around this time, remember the stock market will be closed the full day, so don't expect to do anything until the market reopens the next day at 9:30 AM ET. People usually use the long weekend to either visit memorials and cemeteries or just kick off their summer plans. Either way, no market action happening that day - worth knowing if you've got positions you're watching.