WASHINGTON. Trading news for investors today: There is no news. Good Friday 2019 marks the longstanding Wall Street tradition of closing the markets in deference to Good Friday. The stock and bond trading schedule and settlement dates are altered accordingly, as occurs during official national holidays. And most banks across the U.S. will close as well, or observe shorter hours.
I continue to marvel that this tradition still stands. With the entire government bureaucracy doing its level best to banish organized religion, and especially Christianity, from the public sphere, the Good Friday trading halt somehow persists, even on Wall Street: Ground zero for rapacious and godless capitalism.
At any rate, it’s proper and useful during this time of year, no matter what our individual beliefs, to take a day off and ponder why we’re here and what we’re doing. And particularly if what we’re doing or intend to do will help ourselves, our families and our nation be just a little bit better off after Christianity’s annual celebration of Resurrection weekend. Or whatever our own focal point might be.
In the meantime, back in the temporal realm, here’s some practical information on this year’s market trading schedules and settlement dates as they’re affected by the Good Friday 2019 trading holiday.
Thursday, April 18, 2019: Holy Thursday trading schedule
As we’re all aware, Thursday was a partially short trading day, as part of the lead-up to Good Friday 2019. Stocks traded as usual, but U.S. Fixed Income markets closed early, at 2:00 p.m. ET.
Good Friday, April 19, 2019 : Markets closed
Today, all U.S. and Canadian markets are closed in observance of Good Friday 2019. In addition, no Pre-Market or After Hours trading sessions will take place.
Settlement dates:
Equity trade settlement dates occur as follows on both U.S. and Canadian markets.
| Trade Date | Settlement Date |
| Wednesday, April 17, 2019 | Monday, April 22, 2019 |
| Thursday, April 18, 2019 | Tuesday, April 23, 2019 |
—Headline image: Good Friday commemoration. Image via Pixabay.com, in the public domain, CC 0.0 license.
