Why You Shouldn't Overreact Today

Today's market will feel like Las Vegas.

Good morning:

Welcome to Quadruple Witching, a quarterly event where approximately $6.5 trillion in options and futures contracts expire simultaneously.

This will create some of the year's most volatile and unpredictable trading conditions.

There's no need for alarm if you noticed unusual price swings or exceptionally heavy trading volume today.

This isn't the result of Federal Reserve policy changes, rogue artificial intelligence trading, or celebrity investors making massive bets.

Instead, you're witnessing Wall Street's scheduled clearing of derivative positions, which can catch unprepared retail traders off guard.

Quadruple Witching refers to the simultaneous expiration of four types of derivative contracts: stock index futures, stock index options, single-stock options, and single-stock futures.

While single-stock futures are largely defunct in the U.S. market, they still technically count toward the "quadruple" designation.

This convergence occurs four times annually on the third …