Bewitched, bothered and bewildered by stocks

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Hop on your favorite broom. Let out your best cackle. Cuddle up with a black cat and twitch your nose like Samantha. Quadruple witching day is almost here!

Now for those of you who don't follow the markets religiously, you might be wondering what I'm talking about. But many investing experts have been chattering about how Friday could be a doozy of a day for the stock market because of what is known as quadruple witching day.

The term refers to the phenomenon that takes place several times a year when several derivatives contracts expire at the same time -- those tied to market index futures, market index options, stock options and stock futures. That could lead to a massive surge in stock trading as professional investors hedge their bets.

Stocks tends to be volatile leading up to a quadruple witching day and can be particularly erratic on the day the options and futures actually expire, especially in first and final hours of trading.

But if you are a typical buy-and-hold, long-term investor (and not a Jim Cramer what's the market going to do in the next tick type of trader), quadruple witching can make for a wacky day that's best to not make too much fuss over.