Robinhood Stops 24-Hour Trading Due to Third-Party Issue
- Robinhood ceases its 24-hour trading due to an issue with Blue Ocean ATS.
- The third-party firm responsible for overnight trading operations has suspended its services.
- This disruption may affect investors relying on round-the-clock trading options offered by Robinhood.
Brokerage firm Robinhood announced on Monday that it would halt overnight trading due to complications with its execution venue, Blue Ocean ATS. The firm communicated via social media that Blue Ocean has suspended its overnight market, stating that trades initiated at 8 PM ET would now be executed starting around 4 AM ET the following day. This disruption is linked to Blue Ocean's plans to migrate to a new technology system within the next two weeks. In a subsequent statement, Blue Ocean confirmed the cancellation of all trades executed between 1:45 AM and 3:06 AM ET on Monday. The firm assured its retail broker subscribers that it is actively working to minimize the impact of this issue on investors. Blue Ocean's technology team is currently evaluating the situation and will provide updates on the resumption of after-hours trading. This announcement from Robinhood follows a day of significant technical difficulties experienced by several brokerage firms, including Charles Schwab, which temporarily restricted user access to accounts. The broader market reacted negatively, with global markets experiencing a sharp sell-off; the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted over 1,000 points, marking the S&P 500's worst performance since 2022. Robinhood had previously introduced "24/5 trading" in May 2023, allowing trading from 8 PM ET on Sunday to 8 PM ET on Friday, but this latest disruption raises concerns about the reliability of after-hours trading services.