If you're looking to trade stocks or ETFs before the market is open, or after the market is closed, you will need a brokerage platform that offers extended trading hours.
Pre-market trading gives you the ability to place trades before the market opens.
After-hours trading allows you to place trades after the market is closed.
Both pre-market and after-hours trading are important for many reasons. For example, major news stories are often released before the stock exchanges open or after they close.
Two examples are earnings releases and economic news, such as GDP, employment, and retail sales. In addition, the Federal Reserve often makes major announcements between the market close on Fridays and market opening on Monday mornings.
All can have a major impact on the direction of the market or on individual stocks.
We will be covering 7 of the best brokerage platforms for pre-market and after hours trading.
New to investing? Check out our video on how to buy your first stock below!
Robinhood is a popular "all-in-one" investing app.
While they are most well-known for their commission free stock trading, they've recently shaken up the Retirement Investing World too.
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Here's what you need to know:
And don't worry, this comes with a Portfolio Builder Tool. You don't have to construct your investment portfolio from scratch if you don't want to.
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The stock market is open from 9:30 am to 4:00 pm EST on Monday through Friday, with the exception of holidays.
Going forward, all times mentioned within this article will be EST (eastern standard time).
Long term investors don't usually place trades during the extended trading hours. Instead, it is usually short term traders who are looking to capitalize on volatility - or up and down price movement - in the market.
Extended hours trading gives you the ability to react to those announcements, either before the market opens or after it closes.
However, do keep in mind that the markets are significantly more volatile during the extended trading hours. Since there are fewer participants at these hours, prices can go all over the place.
Most brokerage firms only allow limit orders during the pre-market and after hours trading. This means you have to specify the exact price or better that you are looking to buy or sell a stock for.
This is because the extended hours sessions are significantly more volatile, with greater price swings up and down.
With that being said, here are some of the best brokerages for extended trading hours.
Robinhood is a financial services company that revolutionized the investment landscape by providing a commission-free trading platform.
Now, most other brokerage platforms have followed suit, ditching trading commissions altogether.
Founded in 2013, Robinhood's mission is to democratize finance for all by making investing accessible and affordable. The platform offers users the ability to trade stocks, options, ETFs, and cryptocurrencies without paying traditional brokerage commissions.
Robinhood offers two options for trading in the extended hours:
First, we will cover the extended hours trading.
Robinhood supports trading of all stocks and ETFs from 7:00 am until 8:00 pm for all users.
However, not all stocks and ETFs are eligible for fractional share investing in the extended trading hours. That means you would need to buy a whole share, or wait until the normal market hours to purchase a fractional share.
Click here to sign up for Robinhood and get a free stock worth up to $200!
In addition to the extended trading hours, Robinhood also offers a 24 Hour Market feature.
This allows you to trade certain stocks and ETFs 24 hours a day for 5 days a week.
The 24 hour market trading begins at 8:00 pm on Sunday and ends on Friday at 8:00 pm.
Between those times, you are able to trade over 900 stocks and ETFs 24 hours a day.
Webull is a more advanced commission free trading app offering a lot of great research tools. Similar to Robinhood, they are a commission free trading platform that supports stocks, ETFs, options and cryptocurrency trading.
However, beginner investors might be overwhelmed by the amount of information available. That is why they are not our top choice, despite offering a wider range of trading hours compared to Robinhood.
Webull allows you to trade stocks from 4:00 am to 8:00 pm. Only limit orders are supported during the extended hours trading.
Click here to sign up for Webull and get free stocks!
In addition to the extended trading hours, Webull also offers a 24 hour market feature.
Webull supports overnight trading, and you simply have to enable the feature within the app.
This allows you to trade select stocks and ETFs 24 hours a day, 5 days a week (M-F) just like Robinhood.
Interactive Brokers, or IBKR, is a popular investing platform that caters to both experienced traders and beginners.
Introduced in 2019, IBKR Lite is a user-friendly option tailored for casual investors. This service allows users to make unlimited, commission-free trades of U.S.-listed stocks and exchange-traded funds.
Notably, Interactive Brokers provides access to a wide range of investment options, including options, futures, mutual funds, crypto, and fixed income, across various global markets.
With IBKR Lite, there are no mandatory account minimums or inactivity fees, making it an appealing choice for those looking to start investing hassle-free.
Additionally, the platform offers competitive interest rates on cash balances, the opportunity to earn extra income through their Stock Yield Enhancement Program, and access to low financing rates for borrowing against your account.
Through TWS, you can get access to the extended trading hours.
This allows you to trade stocks from 4:00 am until 8:00 pm on the days the market is open.
Firstrade is another highly rated investment platform.
It provides comprehensive research from some of the top providers in the financial industry, including Morningstar, Zacks, and Benzinga.
In addition, they offer trading in over 11,000 mutual funds, commission-free. Most other brokers charge fees on mutual funds.
It’s also a top choice if you want to trade options, since it’s one of the few brokerages that charge no contract fee, in addition to being commission-free.
Firstrade allows you to trade stocks from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm EST.
Click here to open an account with Firstrade!
TradeStation is widely acknowledged to be one of the top investment platforms for both advanced and active traders.
Part of that reputation owes to the fact that TradeStation was designed specifically for professional and institutional traders.
They offer all types of investment options, including cryptocurrencies.
TradeStation allows you to trade stocks and ETFs from 4:00 am to 8:00 pm.
Given that Charles Schwab is pretty much good at everything, it’s not possible to identify specifically what they do best.
If it’s possible to say, it may be in the area of customer support. They offer 24/7 live support, as well as a network of branches in and around major cities across the country.
Schwab offers virtually unlimited investment options, and is suitable for both self-directed investors, as well as anyone interested in a managed portfolio option.
Charles Schwab allows you to trade stocks and ETFs from 7:00 am to 8:00 pm.
As the second-largest investment brokerage firm in the world and Schwab’s primary competitor, the two platforms are just about equal in almost every regard.
Fidelity can accommodate investors at all levels but is also well suited to both self-directed investors and those looking for managed investment options.
And again, like Schwab, they offer top-notch customer service, 24 hours a day, seven days per week. They have a network of several hundred branches around the country, in case you like good old-fashioned face-to-face contact with your investing activities.
Fidelity allows you to trade stocks and ETFs from 7:00 am to 8:00 pm.
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