Trading halts pause trading on a stock. Learn the types (news, volatility, regulatory), how long they last, and how to read a halt resumption.
A trading halt is an exchange-imposed pause on trading in a specific stock. Halts are common in penny stocks due to news, extreme volatility, or regulatory concerns. The halt code tells you why: T1 means news pending; T12 means additional information requested; LUDP means volatility (limit-up/limit-down); SEC-imposed trading suspensions can last up to 10 trading days.
Halts typically end with a brief quote period (often 5 minutes) before regular trading resumes. The first prints after the halt are often at very different prices than where the stock was halted — gap-ups on positive news, gap-downs on the opposite. Spreads can be extremely wide immediately after resumption.