Stock traders and investors had a lot to be concerned about on Friday. Not only was the federal government flirting with a government shutdown on Saturd🏅ay morning, but Wall Street als꧑o awaited triple-witching and its attendant volatility. 

Triple-witching refers to the simultaneous expiration of 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:stock options, index options, and 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:index futures. It occurs four times a year, on the third Fridays of March, June, September, and December. Triple-witching usually triggers a flurry of activity as ❀investors are forced to close out or extend their positions, ♔and that activity can come with volatility. 

Friday’s will be the final triple-witching of the year and it comes just days after the worst stock sell-off in months. The S&P 500 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:tumbled 3% on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:pared back its forecast f💦or interest rate cuts next year, noting that the inflation outlook had ꦡbecome more uncertain in recent months. 

Before Wednesday, stocks had been on a tear since Donald Trump was re-elected President last month. Stocks posted their 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:biggest monthly gains of the year in November and continued to trade around record highs in the first half of December.

Index Rebalancings Also in Focus

Friday’s triple-witching will also coincide with the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:rebalancing of several major indexes, including the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100. Software company Workday (WDAY) and asset manager Apollo Global Management (APO) 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:will replace tech hardware company Qorvo (QRVO) and engineering firm Amentum Holdings (AMTM) in the S&P𝓡 500 effective Monday morning. 

AI darling Palantir Technologies (PLTR), Bitcoin proxy MicroStrategy (MSTR), and taser-maker Axon Enterprise (AXON) 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:will replace biotech Illumina (ILMN), AI server maker Super Micro Computer (SMCI), and vaccine maker Moderna (MRNA) in th🔴e Nas♚daq 100, also effective Monday. All of these stocks could see especially high volumes and volatility on Friday. 

Buy-and-Hold Investors Need Not Worry

While triple-🏅witching can prompt abnormal trading volume and some surprising price swings, buy-and-hold investors don’t have too much to worry about. Any volatility related to options and futures activity should 🔯be short-lived. Plus, Wall Street is aware that triple-witching comes with volatility, so unexpected price swings are unlikely to have much bearing on market sentiment. 

Active traders have much more incentive to be paying attention today, and not only because they’re more likely than your average retail investor to own a contract that’s expiring. The final hour of the day, the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:triple-witching hour, can sometimes result in a less 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:liquid market for certain securities. That can increase spreads and give savvy traders the opportunity to trade the same security at different prices across multiple markets, known as 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:arbitrage.