LULD halt band calculator
How far can this stock move before trading is paused? Enter a price, pick the tier, get the exact limit up-limit down bands. Free, runs in your browser, no signup.
| Upper band (limit up) | |
|---|---|
| Lower band (limit down) | |
| Distance to band |
The bands are public. The news that pushes you through them is not.
Every number on this page is fixed, published rule math - you can compute it, and so can everyone else. What actually decides whether you are on the right side of a halt is when you saw the headline. Halts cluster around exactly one thing: news that hit the tape faster than most traders did. An 8-K, an FDA decision, a guidance cut, a deal leak.
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How the LULD bands are set
Limit up-limit down is a National Market System plan that has run since 2013. It replaces the old single-stock circuit breakers with a rolling price band around every NMS security between 09:30 and 16:00 ET.
- Reference price - the arithmetic mean of eligible trades over the preceding 5 minutes, refreshed at least every 30 seconds. The band moves with the stock, which is why a name can run 40% in a day and only halt a handful of times.
- Band percentage - set by tier and by price:
| Reference price | Tier 1 | Tier 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Above $3.00 | 5% | 10% |
| $0.75 - $3.00 | 20% | 20% |
| Below $0.75 | lesser of 75% or $0.15 | |
- Doubling - all of the above double during the opening period (09:30-09:45) and the closing period (15:35-16:00).
- Limit state - when the national best offer hits the lower band or the national best bid hits the upper band, the security enters a limit state. If it does not exit within 15 seconds, the primary listing exchange declares a 5-minute trading pause.
- After the pause - the listing exchange reopens with an auction. If it cannot, the pause extends another 5 minutes.
This calculator implements the published plan parameters. Straight-to-source: the plan itself at luldplan.com, FINRA Notice 13-12, and the investor.gov glossary entry. Rights, warrants and a handful of security types carry exceptions - check the plan before you trade off an edge case.
Tier 2 bands by price (regular hours)
Most tickers a retail day trader touches - anything outside the S&P 500 and Russell 1000 - are Tier 2.
| Reference | Band % | Distance | Limit down | Limit up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $0.40 | 37.50% | $0.15 | $0.25 | $0.55 |
| $0.90 | 20.00% | $0.18 | $0.72 | $1.08 |
| $2.50 | 20.00% | $0.50 | $2.00 | $3.00 |
| $5.00 | 10.00% | $0.50 | $4.50 | $5.50 |
| $12.00 | 10.00% | $1.20 | $10.80 | $13.20 |
| $27.50 | 10.00% | $2.75 | $24.75 | $30.25 |
| $55.00 | 10.00% | $5.50 | $49.50 | $60.50 |
| $120.00 | 10.00% | $12.00 | $108.00 | $132.00 |
| $250.00 | 10.00% | $25.00 | $225.00 | $275.00 |
| $480.00 | 10.00% | $48.00 | $432.00 | $528.00 |
| $900.00 | 10.00% | $90.00 | $810.00 | $990.00 |
Tier 1 bands by price (regular hours)
| Reference | Band % | Distance | Limit down | Limit up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $0.40 | 37.50% | $0.15 | $0.25 | $0.55 |
| $0.90 | 20.00% | $0.18 | $0.72 | $1.08 |
| $2.50 | 20.00% | $0.50 | $2.00 | $3.00 |
| $5.00 | 5.00% | $0.25 | $4.75 | $5.25 |
| $12.00 | 5.00% | $0.60 | $11.40 | $12.60 |
| $27.50 | 5.00% | $1.38 | $26.13 | $28.88 |
| $55.00 | 5.00% | $2.75 | $52.25 | $57.75 |
| $120.00 | 5.00% | $6.00 | $114.00 | $126.00 |
| $250.00 | 5.00% | $12.50 | $237.50 | $262.50 |
| $480.00 | 5.00% | $24.00 | $456.00 | $504.00 |
| $900.00 | 5.00% | $45.00 | $855.00 | $945.00 |
Opening and closing periods (bands doubled)
09:30-09:45 and 15:35-16:00. This is where most "why did that halt?" confusion comes from - Tier 2 above $3 gets a 20% band, not 10%.
| Reference | Band % | Distance | Limit down | Limit up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $0.40 | 75.00% | $0.30 | $0.10 | $0.70 |
| $0.90 | 40.00% | $0.36 | $0.54 | $1.26 |
| $2.50 | 40.00% | $1.00 | $1.50 | $3.50 |
| $5.00 | 20.00% | $1.00 | $4.00 | $6.00 |
| $12.00 | 20.00% | $2.40 | $9.60 | $14.40 |
| $27.50 | 20.00% | $5.50 | $22.00 | $33.00 |
| $55.00 | 20.00% | $11.00 | $44.00 | $66.00 |
| $120.00 | 20.00% | $24.00 | $96.00 | $144.00 |
| $250.00 | 20.00% | $50.00 | $200.00 | $300.00 |
| $480.00 | 20.00% | $96.00 | $384.00 | $576.00 |
| $900.00 | 20.00% | $180.00 | $720.00 | $1,080.00 |
FAQ
What is a LULD trading halt?
A limit up-limit down (LULD) halt is a 5-minute pause the primary listing exchange declares when a stock's quotes sit outside its price band for 15 straight seconds. It is automatic and rule-based - not a decision anyone makes about your stock.
How far can a stock move before it halts?
It depends on the reference price and the tier. A Tier 1 stock above $3 has a 5% band during regular hours, so roughly a 5% move from the rolling reference price puts quotes at the band. Tier 2 above $3 gets 10%. Between $0.75 and $3.00 it is 20%, and under $0.75 it is the lesser of 75% or $0.15. All of those double in the opening (09:30-09:45) and closing (15:35-16:00) periods.
What is the reference price?
The arithmetic mean of eligible trade prices over the preceding five minutes, recalculated at least every 30 seconds. That is why a stock can run far more than 5% in a day without ever halting - the band chases the price up with it.
What is the difference between Tier 1 and Tier 2?
Tier 1 is S&P 500 and Russell 1000 constituents plus a list of selected ETPs. Tier 2 is every other NMS security. Tier 2 gets the wider band because it is thinner and noisier.
Why did my stock halt when it was only up 3%?
Almost always because the move happened in the opening or closing period against a stale reference price, or the stock is a low-priced Tier 2 name where a few cents is the whole band. Check the time of the halt first.
What causes these halts in the first place?
A headline. Halts are the market's reaction to news that arrived faster than most traders did - an earnings leak, an FDA decision, an 8-K, an M&A print. The band math is public; the news that moves you through it is what you are actually racing.
Trading the halt, practically
- Know your band before you size. A $2.20 Tier 2 runner has a 20% band - that is a 44-cent envelope, and a single print can close it.
- Watch the clock. The same move that halts at 10:15 will not at 09:35.
- Halted is not frozen. You can cancel during a pause; you cannot get a fill. Resumption auctions gap.
- Find the headline first. Every LULD pause has a cause, and the reopen prices in whatever the cause was. If you are reading the news after the reopen, you are trading someone else's information. Top Tier Newswire exists for that last part - one feed, 40+ sources, sub-2s.