Bruce Markets plans to run a 56-hour continuous weekend session in U.S. equities — from 8 p.m. ET Friday through 4 a.m. ET Monday — backed by strategic investments from PEAK6 Investments and Robinhood Markets, with Nasdaq supplying trading technology and Apex Clearing Corporation handling clearing, carrying and custody. The launch, subject to regulatory review, is expected in the coming months.

Jason Wallach, CEO of Bruce Markets, laid out the operating model and the open questions in an interview with Traders Magazine. His comments sketch what buy-side and sell-side desks would need to build — and what stays unresolved — before seven-day trading becomes execution-grade.

How will weekend liquidity develop?

Wallach expects liquidity to build organically on the platform as brokers bring customers into the session and market makers compete for that flow. "Overnight trading has demonstrated how participation can grow as access and infrastructure improve, but the weekend market will establish its own patterns," he said.

Early metrics under watch:

• Spreads
• Fill rates
• Pricing visibility alongside volume

Several institutional market makers will be live at launch. Access will be open to all brokers, not only Robinhood.

What does the firm require from participants?

Wallach framed weekend readiness as an infrastructure decision, not a calendar extension. Firms need market data, routing, risk controls and order-management systems that accommodate the additional hours. Staffing, supervision and vendor support also need accounting for — and he was blunt on one point: extending the same team's responsibilities across another two days "is likely not a workable operating model." Each firm will make its own participation decisions, but weekend capability will increasingly factor into execution quality and client service.

How does the weekend differ from overnight trading?

The mechanics matter for post-trade desks. Overnight trading serves investors, particularly in Asia, during their local business day. The weekend session closes a much longer gap between trading weeks. Settlement remains tied to the business-day calendar:

• Trades executed in the weekend window carry a Monday trade date and settle T+1 on Tuesday.
• If Monday is a market holiday, the trade date moves to Tuesday, with settlement Wednesday.
• NSCC's trade capture platform runs 24×5; trades executed outside those hours are submitted upon reopening.

How would seven-day trading change news response?

Market-moving news does not wait for Monday's open, Wallach noted. Seven-day trading would let investors adjust positions as news develops, with price discovery continuing through the weekend. That could spread the market's response over a longer period — though he stopped short of claiming it would dampen volatility. Weekend prices will reflect the information and liquidity available at that moment, which makes reliable market data and appropriate controls essential for deciding when to act.

What stands between now and launch?

Wallach identified the full trading lifecycle as the biggest structural challenge: market data and routing that keep pace with where liquidity sits, effective price protections, surveillance and corporate-action handling, plus reliable post-trade processes and weekend maintenance and incident-response plans. The build relies on Bruce Markets' overnight-market experience, Nasdaq's trading technology and Apex's clearing services working consistently across the session.

Preparation now centers on testing technology and participant connectivity, with clearing, market data and operational support in scope. Bruce Markets is offering test sessions. Timing is conditional: "If the required regulatory process or operational readiness takes longer, the timing would need to reflect that, as the goal is a dependable weekend market that participants can use safely and securely," Wallach said.

Once live, traction will hinge on brokers enabling access, liquidity providers participating and investors finding the session useful — with sustained adoption, in Wallach's words, coming from "consistently delivering reliable access and quality execution."