What Is a Trading Halt?

Summary

A trading halt is a temporary suspension of trading in an instrument or market. It matters because halts can interrupt execution and invalidate an otherwise acceptable setup.

Definition

A trading halt is a temporary pause in trading, often linked to news pending, limit conditions, or broader market controls. The article includes halts as a form of event and venue risk because they can prevent normal entry or exit, disrupt price discovery, and make execution assumptions unreliable. A setup that appears valid before a halt may no longer be valid when trading resumes, and stop execution may not occur as expected during fast or interrupted conditions. In the article's no trade process, the possibility of halts inside the expected holding window is a clear reason to stand aside unless the plan explicitly addresses that risk.

Sources

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