A temporary pause of trading in a security by securities exchanges during the trading day to allow a company to announce important news so that its stock is not substantially affected by so far unabsorbed news. A trading halt can also be called where there is a significant order imbalance between the buyers and sellers of a specific security. Exchange authorities don’t not just halt or delay trading in a security for news pending or order imbalances, but also can suspend trading for up to several days (e.g. ten days) and, if appropriate, take action to revoke a security’s registration.

Trading halts are either regulatory or nonregulatory.