what is witching and why is it triple 
in folklore the witching hour is when evil things may be afoot derivatives traders have colloquially applied this to the hour of contract expiration frequently on a friday at the close of trading it s triple for the three types of contracts expiring simultaneously listed index options single stock options and index futures can triple witching impact stocks beyond broad market volatility triple witching can influence individual stocks such as those with large options or futures contracts set to expire as traders adjust or close their positions there can be unusual movement in the stock s price and volume this is usually more pronounced in stocks with smaller market caps or those that trade heavily in the derivatives market caution is in order at this time since these price changes don t often reflect shifts in the underlying company s fundamentals 4