Assent LLC is pleased to offer access to extended hours trading sessions. Many newswire services electronically release their research reports, including stock upgrades and downgrades, between 7:00 AM and 9:00 AM. Additionally, many public companies typically release their earnings results before 9:00 AM or after 4:00 PM. Extended Hours Trading gives you the ability to use this information as it breaks.
Please remember that many stocks either do not trade or experience an unusually low degree of liquidity in the extended trading sessions, therefore, orders may not be filled immediately, or not at all.
Before participating in such extended hours trading sessions, it is particularly important that all traders closely review any customized configuration settings that they may have applied to the front - end trading software. SEVERAL of these settings are designed to take into account conditions that exist during regular market hours.
As such, it may indeed be the case that certain customized settings that work extremely well during regular market hours inadvertently create undesired results or behavior during non - traditional trading sessions.
Assent LLC is pleased to offer its trading community with the opportunity to participate in pre and post market trading sessions. Although we offer a certain level of support during such sessions, please understand that such trading is done at your own risk. It's been said that participating in pre and post market hours trading is for the more astute or sophisticated trader and that participating in such sessions may present some unique risks, some of which are outlined below. That said, some who participate in such extended hours trading sessions feel that it provides them with the means to potentially take advantage of unique opportunities that reflect late breaking news and developments and quickly changing market conditions.
Please note that certain market centers and exchanges are NOT available during extended hours trading sessions. On our part, Assent removes market makers from our systems so that extended hours participants only see the ECNs that are actively accepting and posting orders during the extended hours sessions. As well, certain types of securities, including several ETF's (exchange traded funds) are not available during non traditional market sessions.
In some cases, exchange - based orders that were not confirmed as filled or cancelled by the end of the normal session can still continue to be executed until @ 10 or so minutes after the session has concluded. Please note that such pending, not yet confirmed, and not yet canceled orders will continue to impact available buying power. Traders with questions about specific orders and their status should always contact the Assent Trade Support Desk for assistance. In any event, as a matter of operational practice, Assent shuts down its trading platforms at 8 PM (EST). Upon doing so, all pending orders will automatically be canceled.
Although subject to change, the hours (as of January 2008) for each applicable market center as it relates to extended hours trading are as follows. However, please note that these hours vary by ECN, and are obviously subject to the time at which Assent starts up its trading platform, which is done after all previous day's activity is successfully posted and reconciled. Typically, we start up our systems around or before 7 AM, depending upon several variable factors. Nonetheless, here is a per venue schedule of hours as a guide:
ARCA 4:00 AM – 8:00 PM
NSDQ 7:00 AM – 8:00 PM
BATS 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
BTRD 7:00 AM – 8:00 PM
NYSE 8:06 am - 4:00 PM
Extended Hours Trading Risk Disclosure
• Overnight Positions Risk
Positions held into the close or entered into during the extended trading hours may not be available for possible liquidation, thus causing the trader to carry the position over night. This can expose the trader to additional market risk as well as changes in margin to their account.
• Risk of Lower Liquidity
Liquidity generally refers to the ability of market participants to buy and sell securities. Basically, the more orders that are available in a market, the greater the liquidity. Liquidity is important because with greater liquidity it is easier for investors to buy or sell securities, and as a result, investors are more likely to pay or receive a competitive price for securities purchased or sold. There may be lower liquidity in extended hours trading as compared to regular market hours. As a result, your order may only be partially executed, or not at all.
• Risk of Higher Volatility
Volatility refers to the changes in price that securities undergo when trading. Generally, the higher the volatility of a security, the greater its price swings. There may be greater volatility in extended hours trading than in regular market hours. As a result, your order may only be partially executed, or not at all, or you may receive an inferior price in extended hours trading than you would during regular market hours.
• Risk of Changing Prices
The prices of securities traded in extended hours trading may not reflect the prices either at the end of regular market hours, or upon the opening the next morning. As a result, you may receive an inferior price in extended hours trading than you would during regular market hours.
• Risk of Unlinked Markets
Depending on the extended hours trading system or the time of day, the prices displayed on a particular extended hours trading system may not reflect the prices in other concurrently operating extended hours trading systems dealing in the same securities. Accordingly, you may receive an inferior price in one extended hours trading system than you would in another extended hours trading system.
• Risk of News Announcements
Normally, issuers make news announcements that may affect the price of their securities after regular market hours. Similarly, important financial information is frequently announced outside of regular market hours. In extended hours trading, these announcements may occur during trading, and if combined with lower liquidity and higher volatility, may cause an exaggerated and unsustainable effect on the price of a security.
• Risk of Wider Spreads
Generally, the spread refers to the difference between the price available for an immediate sale (bid)and immediate purchase (ask) for a stock. Lower liquidity and higher volatility in extended hours trading may result in abnormal or unusually wide spreads for a particular security.
