just realized the stock markets closed good friday again this year and honestly i never really understood why until i looked it up. like it's not even an official federal holiday but the NYSE, NASDAQ, all the major markets just shut down anyway. apparently it's been a thing since like the 1800s just because of tradition and the fact that so many traders want the day off for religious reasons or whatever.

the thing that got me is they close to avoid volatility when fewer people are trading. makes sense i guess - fewer players means the market could get weird. bond markets do the same thing so it became this de facto holiday even though other industries don't really care about it.

so when stock markets closed good friday this time around, a lot of people just got a random day off. if you're not religious you can still use it for something meaningful - volunteer, spend time with family, just chill and reflect on stuff. honestly a day away from the charts is probably good for your mental health lol.

the market reopens monday morning as usual. kinda wild that a religious holiday became such a big deal for financial markets even though it's not actually a federal holiday. anyone else find this weird or is it just me?