🔴 Top Stories
Nasdaq is proposing to extend its equity trading hours from the current 16 hours/day (4am–8pm ET) to 23 hours/day, five days a week, by adding a new 'Night Session' from 9pm–4am ET Sunday through Thursday. The goal is to capture order flow from international investors (especially in Asia) and compete with ATSs like Blue Ocean that already offer overnight trading, as well as with NYSE Arca and 24X which have already received SEC approval for similar extended hours. This is a notice of filing, meaning the SEC is now soliciting public comments and has 45 days (extendable to 90) to approve, disapprove, or open formal proceedings — the proposal does not take effect yet and cannot launch until the SIP/Equity Data Plans confirm readiness for overnight data dissemination. If approved, market participants would be able to trade Nasdaq-listed equities and ETPs overnight on a regulated exchange rather than through ATSs, though with limited order types, no Reg NMS protections, and separate connectivity ports required.
IEX RELEVANT If Nasdaq launches 23/5 trading and captures overnight order flow at scale, it could significantly widen the competitive gap between Nasdaq and smaller exchanges like IEX that lack overnight sessions, pressuring IEX to evaluate whether its differentiated model (speed bump, D-Limit, investor protection focus) is sufficient to retain market share as the trading day expands well beyond IEX's current operational hours.
Proposal history
2026-03-02
other
Notice of Designation of a Longer Period for Commission Action on a Proposed Rule Change …
2026-04-15
approval order
Notice of Filing of Amendment Nos. 2 and 3 and Order Granting Accelerated Approval of a P…
🔵 IEX Competitive Intel
FINRA is proposing to eliminate the 25-year-old 'pattern day trader' (PDT) rule — which requires retail customers to maintain $25,000 in their accounts before freely day trading — and replace it with a new 'intraday margin' framework that focuses on real-time or end-of-day monitoring of actual intraday exposure. The rationale is that the old rule is outdated: zero-commission trading has eliminated the cost dynamic that originally justified the rule, and modern technology allows brokers to manage intraday risk more precisely. This is a notice of filing, meaning the SEC is soliciting public comments — the rule is not yet approved, and given its scope (affecting ~1.3 million PDT accounts and 78 clearing firms), it will likely undergo extended review before any approval. If ultimately approved, retail traders with under $25,000 in their accounts would gain the ability to day trade more freely, potentially increasing retail equity trading volume across all venues.
IEX RELEVANT Elimination of the $25,000 PDT minimum equity requirement could meaningfully increase retail day trading activity, boosting overall equity market volume and potentially benefiting IEX if it can attract that incremental retail-driven order flow through its investor-protection positioning.
Proposal history
2026-02-02
other
Notice of Designation of a Longer Time for Commission Action on a Proposed Rule Change To…
2026-04-17
approval order
Notice of Filing of Amendment No. 1 and Order Granting Accelerated Approval of a Proposed…