Veterans Day: These are the markets that will remain open

Bond pros are off for Veterans Day on Wednesday. But U.S. stock markets and other capital markets will be open.

Here’s perhaps why.

Veterans Day, which is meant to pay homage to U.S. military servicemen and service women, used to be celebrated by stock and bond markets alike, starting as far back as 1938 (some put the date back to 1921). Back in 1938, Veterans Day was declared a legal holiday to be celebrated on Nov. 11, known as Armistice Day (Notice that it is Veterans Day not Veterans’ Day).

Over the years, the date has shifted. That is one possible reason why observation of the holiday by the market is so spotty. Veterans Day hasn’t exactly been a day set in stone, nor has it received the sort of treatment conferred upon other federal holidays over the years.

Armistice Day was sort of amorphous at the start: a celebration of World War I veterans and a dedication “to the cause of world peace,” according to military.com’s website.

In 1954, the term “Armistice” was replaced with “Veterans” by the U.S. Congress, in recognition of veterans of World War II and the Korean War. Nov 11 was maintained as the designated day.

In 1968, under the so-called Uniforms Holiday Act, signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, Veterans Day was moved to the last Monday of October.

Another change shortly followed. In 1975, President Gerald Ford moved the holiday back to Nov. 11 starting in 1978, which stands today. That means the day on which the holiday is observed fluctuates, sometimes occurring outside of the regular workweek.

But falling in the midweek days, like Wednesday, isn’t conducive to encouraging broad business celebration.

Money never sleeps, at least in stocks. So it may be the case that stock markets, which are increasingly being traded on lightening-quick platforms, don’t have time for a break. (Bonds have historically been traded over the phone but computer-driven, electronic trading is permeating the fixed-income market too.)

The market used to observe Veterans Day with a brief two-minute shutdown from 1954 to 2006, but that ended in 2007.

As for the bond markets, they never officially shut down for Veterans Day, but the bond industry observes the holiday schedule recommended by theSecurities Industry and Financial Markets Association, known as Sifma.

One simple explanation for the bond markets closure on Veterans Day may be the fact that the U.S. Treasury Department is closed on the federal holiday. That means, Treasurys—a big chunk of typical trading activity on regular days and a key benchmark—are also forced to take a holiday.

Other markets that are open on Veterans Day are currency markets and commodity markets.