Halting stock trades

[sweeps]

Do you think it's right for stock trading to be halted due to breaking news? Example

Most exchanges also have built-in "circuit breakers". If the market falls more than a certain percentage in a certain time period, all trading automatically halts.

I mean if people want to trade -- even if they're panicked or overly exuberant -- shouldn't they be able to?

[34saving]

I don't know anything about the specific example you raised, but I do think in general there should be circuit breakers in the system. Otherwise terrorists and others get way too much control. (Not to mention what would happen if a nasty computer virus took hold.)

I know the analogy doesn't work very well, but I kind of compare it to price gouging during natural disasters . . .I mean if somebody is willing to pay $20 for a gallon of gas, shouldn't they be able to?

[sweeps]

Point taken, 34. But if we're really protecting people from themselves, why isn't there a circuit breaker for the upside, not just the downside? If the market goes up more than 3% in one day for example, should trading be halted so people don't spend too much?