What Is a Stock Halt?
A trading halt pauses a stock mid-session. Here's exactly what that means, why it happens, how long it lasts, and what every halt code on the tape is telling you.
The Simple Definition
A stock halt is a temporary suspension of trading in a single security (or, rarely, the whole market). While a stock is halted, no shares trade — orders queue but don't fill — until the exchange formally resumes trading.
Halts exist to keep price discovery orderly: they give the market a moment to absorb news, or a cooling-off period when a price is moving too violently to trade fairly.
Volatility halts (LULD)
The most common type. When a price jumps or drops outside its Limit Up-Limit Down band too fast, trading pauses for ~5 minutes so it can cool off. Purely mechanical — no news required.
News halts (T-codes)
Triggered around material news — pending (T1), released (T2), or an exchange information request (T12). These give everyone a fair chance to read the news before trading continues.
Halt Codes: What Each One Means
The code printed next to a halt tells you why it happened — and how seriously to take it. A 5-minute volatility pause is routine; a regulatory H-code is not.
Volatility Pause (LULD)
The most common intraday halt. Triggered when the price moves outside the Limit Up-Limit Down price band too fast. A 5-minute cooling-off pause.
News Pending
Trading paused because market-moving news is expected. The company has told the exchange an announcement is coming.
News Released
The news is out; trading is paused briefly so the market can digest it before resuming.
Additional Info Requested
The exchange has asked the company for more information — often before a regulatory or news event.
Single-Stock Trading Pause
A pause on one stock for extraordinary market activity, separate from the LULD band.
Market-Wide Circuit Breaker
The whole market halts. Level 1 (7%), Level 2 (13%) and Level 3 (20%) S&P 500 drops trigger progressively longer market-wide pauses.
Regulatory / Compliance
A regulatory halt — non-compliance, delinquent filings, or an SEC concern. These can last days and are far more serious than a volatility pause.
Delisting
Trading halted pending delisting from the exchange.
IPO / New Issue
A pause used to set the opening price of a newly listed stock.
How Long Halts Last — and What Happens on the Reopen
Volatility (LULD) pause
Almost always 5 minutes, then a re-opening auction sets the new price and trading restarts.
News halts (T1/T2/T12)
Minutes to about an hour, occasionally longer while the exchange coordinates a fair resumption.
Regulatory halts (H-codes)
Days to weeks. These are serious — non-compliance, delinquent filings, or an SEC concern.
The reopen is where the money moves
Halted stocks frequently gap sharply on the resume, and RVOL spikes. Watching halt and RVOL alerts together gives you a heads-up before the reopen — which is exactly what the scanners below are for.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a stock halt?
A stock halt (or trading halt) is a temporary suspension of trading in a security. During a halt, no shares change hands — orders queue but do not fill. Halts protect the market by giving it time to absorb news or cool off from extreme volatility, so price discovery stays orderly.
Why do stocks halt?
The two most common reasons are volatility (the price moved too far, too fast, tripping the Limit Up-Limit Down band — an "LULD" pause) and news (a pending or just-released announcement). Less common are market-wide circuit breakers and regulatory halts for compliance issues.
How long does a stock halt last?
A volatility (LULD) pause is usually 5 minutes. News halts (T1/T2) typically last from a few minutes to an hour but can run longer while the exchange coordinates the resumption. Regulatory halts (H-codes) can last days or weeks. Market-wide circuit breakers are 15 minutes (Level 1 and 2) or the rest of the session (Level 3).
What does LULD (or LUDP) mean?
LULD stands for Limit Up-Limit Down — a mechanism that pauses a stock for 5 minutes when its price would trade outside a set percentage band around its recent average. "LUDP" is the code you'll often see on the tape for this volatility pause. It is the single most common halt type intraday.
What does a T1 halt mean?
T1 is a "news pending" halt: the company has notified the exchange that material news is coming, and trading is paused until it is released and disseminated. A T2 is "news released" — the pause while the market reads it.
Can you trade a stock while it is halted?
No — you cannot buy or sell during the halt itself; orders queue and execute only when trading resumes. Many brokers let you place or cancel orders during the pause, but be careful: stocks often reopen at a very different price than where they halted, so a resting order can fill far from your intended level.
What happens when a halt resumes?
The exchange runs a re-opening auction to set a new price, then continuous trading restarts. Resumptions are frequently volatile — a halted stock can gap sharply up or down on the reopen, especially after a news halt. Relative volume (RVOL) is almost always very high right after a resume.
Where can I see stock halts in real time?
TheDesperateTrader runs a free live halt scanner and a Stock Halts Today board that lists every halted stock with its code, reason, price move, and whether it has resumed — updated in real time from 4 AM to 8 PM ET.
See Stock Halts Live, Right Now
Free real-time halt scanner and today's halted stocks with codes, reasons, and resume status. No account required.