Many traders opt for this approach to avoid complexities, particularly for physically settled instruments. However, closing a position may involve higher transaction costs if market conditions are volatile, as bid-ask spreads can widen significantly near expiration. Understanding how this day influences trading dynamics can help investors anticipate potential risks and opportunities.
What Is the Witching Hour?
- This is common among institutional investors and hedge funds maintaining long-term exposure to futures or options markets.
- Concurrently, the guardians of market liquidity—market makers and arbitrageurs—make their presence felt.
- While both occasions revolve around the simultaneous expiration of diverse derivative contracts, the specifics of those contracts set them apart, influencing the market in distinct manners.
- Double, triple, and quadruple witching can occur when two, three, or four asset class contracts expire simultaneously.
Triple witching is the simultaneous expiration of stock options, stock index futures, and stock index options contracts, all on the same trading day. This happens four times a year, on the third Friday of March, June, September, and December. The expected expiration date for the three might increase trading volume and cause unusual price changes in the underlying assets.
How does it affect stock prices?
Index options, however, are cash-settled, with gains or losses determined by the final settlement value, often based on city index review the opening prices of index components the next trading day. On Triple Witching Day, stock options, index options, and index futures expire simultaneously, creating a unique trading environment. Each instrument follows its own expiration cycle, but on this day, their timelines align. Exchanges like the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) and CME Group set the contract specifications, including expiration dates, settlement procedures, and final trading hours.
Past instances underscore the gravity of triple witching, revealing its capacity to set off chain reactions in the market. Given its impact, a vigilant stance, backed by a robust understanding and a clear game plan, becomes essential for those diving into this tumultuous trading tide. In tandem, stock index options’ expiration, which grants holders the prerogative to engage with a stock index at a designated rate, weaves into the triple witching tapestry. With these tools being the linchpin for mutual funds and colossal investors in counteracting market perils, their expiration can incite profound market tremors as portfolios recalibrate and positions pivot. Meanwhile, traders clutching onto these ticking contracts grapple with a pivotal decision. They can either conclude their current positions by purchasing or offloading the core asset, neutralizing the initial contract, or transition to a forthcoming expiration cycle.
The increased volume tends to lead to higher volatility and intraday price swings and stocks can be unpredictable on Triple Witching day. The triple witching takeaway is that investors should be aware of what happens on these days and understand that there is a lot more volume in the markets. There could be some drastic price swings, but investors shouldn’t be carried away by any short-term emotions (which, really, is great advice any day in the markets). Many experts also argue that this day is becoming less dramatic than its name implies for several reasons. The first is that the industry has been taking steps to minimize the ensuing chaos, including spreading out the expiration dates of contracts to have some fall at the beginning of the month.
The final hours of Triple Witching Day often bring unpredictable price movements. Institutional investors engage in index arbitrage, exploiting pricing differences between stock index futures and their underlying stocks. As expiration approaches, these positions must be closed or rolled forward, successfully outsource software development creating sudden bursts of buying or selling.
Triple-witching days in 2024, 2025 and 2026
Triple witching, aka “freaky Friday,” originated in the 1980s with the introduction of stock index futures and options. The S&P 500 closed at an all-time high on Thursday as stocks rallied after the Federal Reserve on Wednesday cut interest rates by half a percentage point. The last hour of trading can be especially volatile as investors scramble to exit positions before the market closes. The terms “triple witching” and “quadruple witching” are often used to describe occasions on the third Friday of March, June, September, and December. For about 20 years, they had one difference, but since 2020, they have referred to the same event.
Triple witching can offer an opportunity for investors to take advantage of a more volatile market and put more money to work. Given the increased volatility during triple witching, strategies that benefit from large price movements are often favoured. These examples underscore the importance of caution and risk management during triple witching.
- However, carelessly choosing an expiration date is one of the most common mistakes when trading options, often leading traders astray.
- Market makers and institutional investors play a significant role in managing these expirations.
- At the same instant that the derivatives contracts expire, the anticipatory hedges that traders have placed become unnecessary, and so traders also seek to close these hedges, and the offsetting trades result in increased volume.
- However, volatility is always present in the market—some days more so than others.
- The way they interact can lead to increased market activity and higher trading volumes.
What Is Triple Witching Day and How Does It Impact the Market?
Triple witching may be a good trading opportunity or largely a non-event, depending on how you approach the market. But this compensation does not influence the information we publish, or the reviews that you see on this site. We do not include the universe of companies or financial offers that may be available to you. Investing and Trading involves significant financial risk and is not suitable for everyone. No communication from Rick Saddler, Doug Campbell, John Carignan, or this website should be considered as financial or trading advice.
As these contracts come to a close, traders and investors might decide to close out, renew, or exercise their positions. Call options expire in the money—that is, they are profitable when the underlying security price is higher than the strike price in the contract. Put options are in the money when the stock or index is priced below the strike price. In both situations, the expiration of in-the-money options causes automatic transactions between the buyers and sellers of the contracts. As a result, triple-witching dates are when all three types of contracts—stock index futures, stock index options, and stock options—all expire on the same day, causing an increase in trading.
Why Is it Called the “Witching Hour”?
Uncover the key aspects of household expenses, their categories like home, child-related, transportation, and entertainment expenses. Learn the significance of managing these costs effectively to achieve financial stability, better budgeting, and long-term security. The fundamental premise of technical analysis lies in identifying recurring price patterns and trends, which can then be used to forecast the course of upcoming market trends. Our journey commenced with the development of AI-based Engines, such as the Pattern Search Engine, Real-Time Patterns, and the Trend Prediction Engine, which empower us to conduct a comprehensive analysis of market trends. We have delved into nearly all established methodologies, including price patterns, trend indicators, oscillators, and many more, by leveraging neural networks and deep historical backtests.
For long-term investors who aren’t in and out of the market frequently, triple witching shouldn’t be of much concern and likely doesn’t require any portfolio adjustments. However, volatility is always present in the market—some days more so than others. Triple witching offers an opportunity or reminder to check volatility readings and see how calm or jittery markets may be on a given day or week, and seek out any reasons.
If a stock nears a key strike price with significant open interest, market makers may trade aggressively to maintain a neutral position, leading to what is the forex grid trading strategy sharp intraday swings. As options and futures contracts expire, investors must close or offset their position or roll out existing positions to a future expiration date. The position management amplifies volume, specifically at the end of the trading session Friday afternoon. Triple witching refers to the third Friday of March, June, September, and December, when three kinds of securities—stock market index futures, stock market index options, and stock options—expire on the same day.