You're standing at the ATM on a crisp Monday morning, November 11, 2024. The screen says "Closed for Holiday" or the branch doors are locked tight. You might assume the entire financial world has hit the pause button to honor those who served. But then you glance at your phone. Your portfolio is moving. Tesla is up, Nvidia is dipping, and the tickers are flying across CNBC.
Wait. Was the stock market open Veterans Day 2024? Yeah, it was. Honestly, it catches people off guard every single year. While the post office stops delivering and your local Chase or Bank of America branch locks its doors, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Nasdaq keep the lights on. It’s a weird quirk of the American financial calendar.
The Great Divide: Stocks vs. Bonds
To understand why the stock market open Veterans Day 2024 was business as usual, you have to look at who makes the rules. The stock market is basically a private club. The NYSE and Nasdaq are private entities that decide their own schedules. They follow a specific list of nine "Core Holidays" where they shut down entirely—think Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Juneteenth. Veterans Day didn't make that cut.
But the bond market? That’s a whole different animal.
Bond trading is heavily influenced by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA). Since bond trading is so closely tied to the federal government and the Federal Reserve, they almost always follow the federal holiday schedule. So, on November 11, 2024, the bond market was closed. This creates a "half-on, half-off" feel for the day.
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What happened on the floor that day?
If you were watching the charts, things felt... quiet. Lighter volume is the name of the game on Veterans Day.
Because banks are closed, certain types of institutional money don't move. Big-time fund managers might take the day off since they can't settle trades or move cash through the federal wire systems easily. This often leads to lower liquidity. Lower liquidity can sometimes mean higher volatility if a big order actually hits the tape, but usually, it just means the market drifts sideways.
Why the Stock Market Stays Open
It hasn't always been this way. Believe it or not, the NYSE actually used to close for Veterans Day. That changed back in 1954. The powers that be decided they’d rather stay open but observe a two-minute moment of silence at 9:25 a.m. ET, right before the opening bell.
They do this to stay competitive. In a global economy, every hour the U.S. markets are closed is an hour where London, Tokyo, or Hong Kong is moving without us.
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- Monday, November 11, 2024: Stock markets open.
- Banks: Closed.
- USPS: Closed.
- Bond Market: Closed.
It's a bit of a logistical nightmare for traders. If you sold a stock on Veterans Day 2024, your "settlement" period was likely delayed. Since the banks were closed, that T+1 (Trade date plus one day) settlement clock didn't start ticking like a normal Monday.
Trading Tactics for Holiday Sessions
Kinda weird, right? You can buy a share of Apple, but you can’t mail a letter or go inside a bank. This discrepancy creates a specific environment for retail investors.
Many pros suggest being careful with "Market Orders" on days like this. Because fewer people are trading, the "bid-ask spread"—the gap between what sellers want and what buyers offer—can widen. You might end up paying a few cents more per share than you expected just because the "room" isn't as crowded as usual.
The Fed Factor
Even though the stock market was open, the Federal Reserve was technically observing the holiday. This meant no big economic data releases. No CPI prints. No surprise interest rate speeches. This usually keeps the "big moves" at bay. Most investors used the stock market open Veterans Day 2024 as a chance to rebalance their portfolios without the noise of a heavy news cycle.
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Looking Forward: 2025 and Beyond
If you missed the boat in 2024, don't worry. The pattern repeats. In 2025, Veterans Day falls on a Tuesday. The stock market will be open again. The banks will be closed again.
If you're planning to trade during these "bank-closed, market-open" sessions, here are the moves to make:
Check your liquidity. Don't try to dump a massive position in a tiny "penny stock" on a holiday. There might not be enough buyers on the other side.
Use Limit Orders. This is basically telling the computer: "I will only buy this at $50.00, not a penny more." It protects you from those wider spreads we talked about earlier.
Watch the settlement dates. If you need cash in your bank account by Friday, don't wait until the last minute on a week with a federal holiday. The banking "plumbing" moves slower than the stock market "glitz."
The stock market open Veterans Day 2024 serves as a reminder that Wall Street operates on its own clock. It's a day for a moment of silence for those who served, followed immediately by the roar of the opening bell.