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Using Pre-Market and After-Hours Sessions

Using Pre-Market and After-Hours Sessions education card 1

The same images as the education cards published to the Telegram channel.

Early sessionMiddayAround the closeVolumeVolume clusters at the open and close and thins out midday
Liquidity and volatility differ by time of day

Pre-Market

• 04:00 ~ 09:30 ET (Korea 18:00 ~ 23:30 standard time)

• The first price reaction to earnings and news can be seen

• Low volume → wide bid-ask spread

After-Hours

• 16:00 ~ 20:00 ET (Korea 06:00 ~ 10:00 standard time)

• The time slot for quarterly earnings releases (many are released after the regular session closes)

• Large gap ups and gap downs

Risk factors

• Large slippage

• Shallow order-book depth (a single large buy or sell order moves the price)

• Some brokers do not support trading

Gap trading right after earnings is tempting, but volatility in the first 30 minutes of the next regular session is greater. There is no need to rush.

Have you tried trading pre-market or after-hours? How much slippage was there compared with the regular session?

Previous lessonUS Stock Market Hours — Converting to Korean TimeNext lesson Options Expiration — Triple Witching and Market Impact

More in this category — US stocks

Options Expiration — Triple Witching and Market ImpactEarnings Season — Interpreting EPS, Revenue, and GuidanceFOMC / CPI / NFP — The Three Big US Macro Events

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Using Pre-Market and After-Hours Sessions — MarketSurfer Trading Education