Stock market trading halts explained tells investors about trading halts. They can be a sign of big trouble, opportunity, or nothing at all. But most stock halts are news-related. That news can be about the company or stock, market-related, or be due to regulator action. In all cases, superior investors can quickly learn the reason for a trading halt. Then, they can take any needed action to minimize or avoid problems. Investors can also find money-making opportunities in a trading halt or simply do nothing. Many times, during and after a trading halt, doing nothing is the very best course of action.
What you learn from stock market trading halts explained:
This lesson explains how investors deal with trading halts. It also discusses how, why, and when stock market trading halts happen. As well, related content links to help you learn more are at the end of the lesson.
This lesson covers the following:
FAQ investors ask about stock market trading halts
Information hungry investors want to know more about stock market trading halts. Investors and other eager consumers of company news need to know why trading halts matter. Most often, news about the company, the economy, or finances as well as markets and trading causes stock market trading halts. Following are the most frequently asked questions with answers about stock trading halts
What is a stock trading halt?
Trading halts are usually temporary suspensions of stock trades. They may occur for various reasons, such as news about the company, market issues, technical problems, regulatory concerns, or market-wide halts.
The halt typically lasts about an hour for company news, giving enough time to distribute or broadcast the information. For order imbalances or individual stock trading issues, halts are short pauses that allow orders to balance out.
Regulatory halts, however, can last much longer until late or inadequate filings get cleared or fraud or other severe matters get resolved. Market-wide halts are usually circuit-breaker events implemented to calm a market in turmoil.
What is material news for a stock?
Material news is any company news or information about the company that may move the share price up or down or influence investors' decisions.
Material news can report corporate events, developments, earnings or material financial change, merger or acquisition, C-level executive change, stock splits or share buybacks, trading activity in the company's stock, and any regulatory or legal action or settlements.
Material news is virtually any news that could affect the stock price.
Why are there stock trading halts?
Open and fair markets require all investors to have equal access to information. Halts enable all participants to access new or changed information before trading resumes.
Most halts are trading pauses requested by company management to release news that allows market participants, investors, and news media to receive and interpret the impact of the news on the stock price.
Other reasons for a halt in one or a few stocks can be excessive volatility or regulatory/compliance issues due to late filings. In rare circumstances, market-wide halts may help quell panic in plummeting markets.
What triggers a stock trading halt?
Four factors can trigger a stock trading halt:
First, most halts are company management requests to stop trading for the release of breaking company news.
Second, exchange management can halt a stock for extremely volatile trading.
Third, regulators can halt a stock for late or inadequate filing of a company's required public filings.
Fourth, in extreme market downturns, regulators can trip a circuit breaker for a market-wide halt of all trading.
Is a stock trading halt good or bad?
Trading halts are time-outs for markets or a stock to distribute information or sort out trading issues. The idea is to give everyone time to access the same information on a company, trading, or market.
Usually, they are brief, but it depends. A trading holt usually means that a company has news to release.
Other times, market turmoil like extreme volatility or an order imbalance triggers a halt.
Occasionally, a late compliance filing or other regulatory concern will get a stock halted. A compliance halt can be serious trouble.
And very rarely, all trades on an exchange are stopped by a circuit breaker halt. Those are halts triggered by a market plunge hitting a preset value. Those exceptional events are attempts to calm a trading panic.
How do stock trading halts happen?
Most stock trading halts are for a news release from the company management. But regulators can halt trading in a single stock or across the market depending on the circumstances.
Including halts made by a company's management to share their news, there are four cases of a trading halt.
Overly volatile trading of a single stock can trigger a 5-minute pause of that stock, or a market plunge can trigger a 15-minute market pause to restore market order. In those cases, exchange management steps in to stop trading.
The last case is a compliance halt by regulators, usually over filing issues, concerns over trade manipulations, or evidence of fraud.
What is a stock market circuit breaker?
A stock market circuit breaker halts all trading on an exchange. Although rarely used, circuit breaker controls are available to calm trading volatility in steep market declines.
This powerful exchange management tool attempts to bring order when markets plunge.
Drops of 5% or more trigger a brief trading halt intended to restore orderly trading. When trading resumes, as long as markets remain orderly, a sell-off may continue and does not trigger further circuit breakers.
Currently, there are three circuit breakers in place. The first, implemented by a -7% decline, enforces a 15-minute pause. The second, activated at a -13% decline, also mandates a 15-minute break. Finally, the third circuit breaker, triggered by a -20% decline, closes the market for the day.
Core Content
Stock market trading halts explained
The good, bad, or ugly stories of stock market trading halts
In themselves, the daily events of trading halts are not good, bad, or ugly. However, these market timeouts or trading pauses, happen frequently. And anyone that could be affected by the news needs an opportunity to deal with the information before trading resumes.
Most stock halts and associated news, give investors an opportunity to learn more about a specific company. At times, for shareholders, the news reveals a new aspect of owning or a reason not to own that company. But be careful, around trading halts. Many times, emotions and tension around a halt can produce misleading market signals.
As always, superior investors make out well by staying with their plan. So, when dealing with a trading halt, we remember that and stay on plan! Remaining to stay on plan avoids what usually amounts to very short-term excitement. That way you do not get caught up in the any illusion of easy money trading.
There are many possible reasons for a trading halt. Most have to do with sharing company information. All interested parties, including shareholders, other investors, and the public, need the opportunity to receive that news.
That or any news matters when it is material information. Anything that the management of the company knows or should know or thinks could impact the material value of the company, is material information. As well, any news that could make anyone want to buy or sell the shares, is also material information.
So, any possibility that the news may impact the company or the share value triggers a halt. The halt stays until everybody can receive the news. That is defined as a reasonable time. So, after a reasonable time passes, share trading resumes.
Avoiding the trading halt
For most routine news, listed companies avoid the drama of a trading halt. They keep the news confidential until after market trading hours. Then, after the market closes, the news release is distributed. Or as an alternate strategy, well before the market opens, the news gets released. Most regulators accept that distributing news an hour or more before the market opens. Both strategies are considered reasonable and adequate time for everyone to receive the news.
Specialized companies assist with distributing the news in an acceptable and accountable way. Their service meets the need for a fair and timely distribution of the information. The routine and straightforward process these companies use does the job well.
These services ensure that media, shareholders, regulators, and known interested parties all receive the news release. Their service also produces a record that tracks and documents how and when that was done.
Using the trading halt to grab attention
In some cases, company managements want to use a news-related trading halt. They want their news, the company, and themselves to attract attention! The more the better!
Using the trading halt as an attention-seeking move can ensure more media coverage. To ensure this, companies often stage a 'media event' to favorably present the news and company. For media, such events are bread and better events they routinely cover. That can mean much greater screen time for the company. In cases of good news, that is considered a winning publicity strategy.
Such events are clever plays on our curiosity. Everyone from a small to a major shareholder can see that something is up and our curiosity has us paying more attention. And that can mean more media and social media stories. As well, chatter among shareholders and the investment community, in general, can spike in response to such an event.
Superior investors keep emotions in check
From time to time, when investor emotions are at play around a trading halt, both opportunity and risk may emerge. Should that happen, more often than not it is caused by a special circumstance. Such circumstances could be a trading frenzy associated with a short squeeze. As well, the rare black swan event can spike trading action. Most times, the best course of action for investors is to stay put. In fact, most often, until facts emerge that suggest taking any other action, staying put or on the sidelines is the best choice.
The power to halt stock market trading
Regulators have the authority to halt trading. But they make the rules known and clear so all market users are aware of the consequences that trigger a trading halt. For the most part, that approach to market regulation works well and lets trading proceed without interruption.
In most cases, halts last for 15 minutes to an hour, but there is no limit and they can happen any time of day. In most halts, there is no compliance or regulatory issue so all concerned get on with disseminating the news and quickly return to normal trading action.
Regulators use the powerful circuit breaker to halt all stocks for a pause to settle trading.
The stock halt trading opportunity
At times, trading halts present sharp-eyed traders with profit-making opportunities. Only experienced and nimble traders should consider such speculative trades. But, get it right and a trader can capture a quick profit! But getting it wrong quickly burns capital!
Now and then, a trading halt can trigger a trading imbalance rather than relieve one. That usually happens with volatile stocks in jittery markets. And that is speculative risky trading territory! Beginners or income investors should stay well away! However, aggressive traders, with specialized market knowledge can profitably trade.
Looking for profit in a trading halt
Traders with experience and knowledge can profitably trade a halt, but it is a risky speculation. Most are quick hits done right after the halt. Then, pent-up buying or selling can then move the stock price sharply. But beware, that is an extremely risky trading environment! The wrong move can lose a lot of money!
Buying panics and selling panics do occur. Most often, this is demonstrated when trades resume following a halt. Sometimes, rather than resolving an order imbalance, a trading halt may have the opposite effect. Speculator driven order imbalances can produce spectacular spikes and dips.
For an experienced trader, trading halts can signal opportunity. Most often, such opportunities are trend reversions or continuations. Either way, those on the right side of the trade, quickly produce profits by playing it well. However, if at all unsure, prudent investors just stay away. These trades move fast and being wrong quickly gets very expensive.
Volatility caution signals a coming halt
Investors may feel stuck in a halted stock when they experience a trading halt. Unlike some halts, like compliance orders, volatility halts are often predictable.
Stocks in higher risk areas of the market tend to have more frequent volatility halts. Investors who want to avoid getting caught in a volatility halt should simply avoid volatile traders! As a result, you will never be on the wrong side of a volatility trade.
Warning signs of a volatility halt
Volatility halts occur quickly, but not instantly. So any dramatic price spike or plunge is a warning to get out and avoid the halt. But do so quickly, before regulators respond. Then, once the halt is lifted, you will have the luxury of deciding how to proceed.
Managing your trading halt response
Superior investors do not see a stock trading halt as either good or bad. Rather, halts are something that investors must deal with. But, they take each halt as a separate event. That can be good or bad news but it may not be important at all. In any case, a trading halt is a time for investors to pay attention and do their basic research.
For research on a trading halt, use our excellent research tool, Google. Try searching, 'trading halts Exchange Name', or 'Exchange Name trading halts'. By doing so, you can see a list of current trading halts on any exchange you are interested in.
You can check out the website of any halted stock that interests you. Most likely, with the help of Google and a tour of the website, you will have the information you need. You need to know, the source of the news and the reason for the stock trading halt. You have what you need when you know the why and what.
With that information, you have the basic information about the stock halt. Then, an investor can decide whether to sell, buy or do nothing. As well, when you are thinking, I need to know more, you will have access to that information. You can then work on that as your next research project. In every case, the informed investor can see their options. With that, we then make the best decision and take action.
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Stock market trading halts explained
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