Stock Market Today: Thanksgiving & Black Friday Trading Hours, Explained (Sort Of)
You want to know if the stock market is open today, November 27th, or on Black Friday? Seriously? You gotta ask? I mean, come on, this ain't rocket science, but it is Wall Street, so naturally, they gotta make it sound like some grand, complex mystery.
Let's just cut to the chase, because I know you're not here for some flowery corporate fluff. You're here for the real deal, and I'm Nate Ryder, so you're gonna get it straight.
The Grand Thanksgiving Heist: Where Wall Street Hides
So, for starters, if you're asking about Thanksgiving Day, November 27th, 2025 (or any Thanksgiving, for that matter), the answer is a resounding, predictable: NO. The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and Nasdaq are shut down tighter than a drum. Like, completely. No trading, no ETFs, no frantic stock transactions. Nada. Zilch.
They call it "observing the national holiday," which, let's be honest, is just a fancy way of saying "the big boys need a break from making money off your money." They tell us it's "giving traders and investors a chance to spend time with family and plan their portfolios." My ass. You think the folks running these massive funds are sitting around the dinner table strategizing their next move while Aunt Mildred is passing the cranberry sauce? Give me a break. They're probably jetting off to some private island, leaving us plebs to wonder if our investments are gonna spontaneously combust while they're gone.
It's a pause, alright, but not for reflection. It's a pause for the powerful to recharge, to reset, to make sure their golden parachutes are still perfectly inflated. Meanwhile, the average Joe who just wants to check a stock price for five minutes is locked out, staring at a static screen. It's a complete joke, if you ask me. This whole setup, it’s like they're running a private club, and we're just peeking through the fence, hoping for scraps. Does anyone really believe these guys are home basting turkeys instead of just enjoying a quiet day off from the grind they impose on everyone else? I doubt it.
Black Friday's Half-Hearted Hustle: A Token Gesture
Now, for Black Friday, November 28th, 2025, it gets even more insulting. Are NYSE and Nasdaq trading? Yeah, technically. But don't get too excited. They're pulling an early close, shutting things down at 1 p.m. Eastern Time. One in the afternoon! That's not a full day of trading; that's barely a warm-up.
This "early closure" is apparently a "long-standing practice" that's been around since the 90s. Oh, how quaint. It's designed to "accommodate the holiday weekend." Accommodate whose holiday weekend, exactly? The folks who need to get a head start on their luxury shopping sprees, I guess. It ain't for the average investor, that's for sure. All it does is create lighter trading volumes, which, as the factsheet so helpfully points out, "can increase price volatility." Great. So, you get fewer hours, less liquidity, and more risk. What a deal! Is the stock market open today? What to know about Thanksgiving and Black Friday.
The bond market? Same story, but they're even more generous, closing at 2 p.m. ET. Like a generous king bestowing an extra hour of freedom. It's all just a big wink and a nod, isn't it? "We're open, but not really open." It's like going to a restaurant that's "open" but the chef's gone home and they're only serving lukewarm water.
And while these traditional markets are playing peek-a-boo with your money, guess what's humming along 24/7, 365 days a year? Yep, the crypto market. No holidays, no early closures, no "we're taking a break for family time." Just constant, relentless trading. Makes you wonder, doesn't it? Are these traditional markets just dinosaurs lumbering along, or are they just plain lazy? Then again, maybe I'm just bitter I gotta keep churning out columns while these guys get a long weekend to themselves...
After Black Friday, things supposedly get back to "normal" on Monday, December 1st. But even then, they warn you about "lower trading volumes" because some people "may extend their breaks." So, even when they're "open," they're not really open. It's a never-ending cycle of excuses and half-measures. It's like they want you to invest, but only on their terms, when it's convenient for them.
Wall Street's Perpetual Vacation Mode
Look, the bottom line is this: if you're trying to trade on Thanksgiving, forget about it. If you're trying to trade on Black Friday, you're getting a glorified half-day, a blink-and-you'll-miss-it opportunity that's probably more trouble than it's worth. This whole system, it just screams "old money" and "old ways." They expect us to plan around their holidays, their early closures, their convenience. It ain't about the investor; it's definately about the institutions. And honestly, it just makes me want to scream.