While many traders turn their attention from bulls and bears to turkeys this week, U.S. markets keep right on ticking. The NASDAQ and the NYSE close down completely on Thanksgiving and only operate until 1:00 p.m. Friday. However, traders that take the day off have historically missed some solid trading opportunities.

Light Volume

With 1.5 days less than the typical trading week, it’s no surprise that Thanksgiving week normally sees lighter trading volume than the average week. However, Thursday and Friday are not the only reasons why volume is light. Many traders take the whole week off for travel or vacation. In fact, market volume from Monday–Wednesday of Thanksgiving week is also about 7.0 percent lighter than volume for a typical Monday through Wednesday.

Thanksgiving Week Returns

Despite the light volume, U.S. markets tend to move…

Click here to continue reading

Want to learn more about how to profit off the stock market? Or maybe you just want to be able to look sophisticated in front of your coworkers when they ask you what you are reading on your Kindle, and you’d prefer to tell them “Oh, I’m just reading a book about stock market analysis,” rather than the usual “Oh, I’m just looking at pics of my ex-girlfriend on Facebook.” For these reasons and more, check out my book, Beating Wall Street with Common Sense. I don’t have a degree in finance; I have a degree in neuroscience. You don’t have to predict what stocks will do if you can predict what traders will do and be one step ahead of them. I made a 400% return in the stock market over five years using only basic principles of psychology and common sense. Beating Wall Street with Common Sense is now available on Amazon, and tradingcommonsense.com is always available on your local internet!