Refresher on Stock Market "Circuit Breakers"

A reminder on how market Circuit Breakers work: With many retail investors now facing their first potential bear market, Circuit Breakers are back in discussion.

1. Circuit Breaker 1: If the S&P 500 falls -7% below the previous day’s close before 3:25 PM ET, trading stops for 15 minutes.
2. Circuit Breaker 2: If the S&P 500 falls -13% below the previous day’s close before 3:25 PM ET, trading stops for 15 minutes.
3. Circuit Breaker 3: If the S&P 500 falls -20% below the previous day’s close, trading stops for the remainder of the day, regardless of what time it is.

NOTE: For Circuit Breakers 1 and 2, if the S&P 500 falls -7% or -13% AFTER 3:25 PM ET, trading will NOT stop.

These thresholds also apply for the Dow 30 and Nasdaq 100 indices.