23x5 Trading is Coming Soon: What Does That Mean for Your Market Data?

The move to 23x5 trading on December 6 sounds pretty straightforward when you first hear it. Trading hours get longer, which means market activity can continue across more of the day.

But what's easy to miss is that market data doesn't just arrive and stop there. It moves through feeds, applications, internal systems, research tools, alerts, charts, client platforms, and whatever else has been built around the trading day as it works today. So, as those trading hours expand, it's worth looking at what happens to everything connected to that data, too.

So, What Actually Changes on December 6?

Beginning December 6, the move to 23x5 trading will extend the trading day to 23 hours a day, 5 days a week. For firms consuming market data, that means data can be moving through their systems across a much longer part of the day.

For example, the planned Nasdaq/NYSE/EDGX (National Market System) trading schedule breaks the day into:

• Overnight Session: 9:00 pm – 4:00 am EST
• Pre-Market Session: 4:00 am – 9:30 am EST
• Regular Trading Session: 9:30 am – 4:00 pm EST
• Post-Market Session: 4:00 pm – 8:00 pm EST
• Pause/Processing Window: 8:00 pm – 9:00 pm EST

Trading would run from Sunday at 9:00 pm EST through Friday at 8:00 pm EST, with the daily pause occurring Monday to Thursday.

On its own, that sounds like simply supporting additional trading hours. And in some cases, the impact might actually be relatively straightforward. The bigger question is whether anything else inside your current setup assumes the trading day works the way it does now. Because most platforms aren't working with a feed in isolation, and that data usually has somewhere else to go.

The Feed is Only One Part of the Setup

Market data can move from a feed into a wide range of systems and experiences, from trading applications and research tools to charts, alerts, internal workflows, and client-facing platforms.

And in many cases, those systems have their own rules around when data is expected, how different trading periods are handled, when processes run, and what happens before the next trading day begins.

That doesn't mean every existing process needs to change on December 6. In reality, it does mean clients should understand where their market data goes and whether anything connected to it depends on the current trading schedule.

One feed might be ready to deliver data across a longer trading day while another part of the system still works around an older assumption. Ultimately, that's the gap worth finding ahead of time.

Here's a Look at What Happens Around the Data

For technical and market data teams, preparing for 23x5 trading can start with something pretty basic: follow the data.

And once you start tracing where that data actually goes, a few practical questions can help show where the longer trading day might touch your current setup:

• Where does the market data enter your environment?
• Which systems, applications, or workflows use it after that?
• Are any of those systems tied to the trading hours they use today?

So, depending on your setup, that could really mean reviewing areas such as:

• Market data feeds and how they're consumed
• Applications connected to those feeds
• Trading session handling
• Charts and research tools
• Alerts and other data-driven workflows
• Monitoring and internal processes

However, the exact impact will depend on how your organization is set up and which QuoteMedia services you're using. So the goal isn't to assume every one of these areas needs work; it's to find where the longer trading day actually touches your existing setup.

Don't Stop at the First System

One easy thing to overlook is that market data can pass through several layers before it reaches the person using it. A QuoteMedia feed might supply one application, which then passes information into another tool, client interface, internal workflow, or third-party system.

Which means checking the initial connection might only tell you part of the story. So, if another part of that chain has been built around the current trading schedule, that's something your team will want to know before the move happens rather than finding it once 23x5 trading is already underway.

And for teams managing several feeds, platforms, or client experiences, even a small assumption buried farther downstream can create more work than what you can see by looking at the feed alone.

Start Reviewing Your Setup Before December 6

There isn't one universal change that applies to every QuoteMedia client because every implementation is different. Some organizations might have a fairly direct market data setup, while others might have data moving across several applications, workflows, and client-facing experiences.

So, start with what you're using today and look at your QuoteMedia market data and feeds, follow where that information actually goes, and identify any systems or processes that could depend on the trading schedule they're currently built around.

If you're unsure how the move to 23x5 trading could affect your current QuoteMedia services, data feeds, or connected applications, contact your QuoteMedia Account Manager with any questions at [email protected].