In what scenario can stop orders not be entered?

Stop orders are designed to trigger when the market reaches a specified price, providing traders with a mechanism for managing their positions. However, there are specific market conditions under which these orders cannot be entered, such as during a market halt.

During a market halt, trading on the affected securities is temporarily suspended, meaning that no new orders, including stop orders, can be placed until trading resumes. This pause in trading could be due to various reasons, such as significant news or volatility, aimed at providing a cooling-off period for traders. Therefore, the inability to enter stop orders during a market halt ensures that traders cannot attempt to take advantage of the halted conditions until normal trading resumes.

On the other hand, stop orders can be entered during normal trading hours and are generally applicable to a wide range of equity types, therefore these conditions do not restrict the entry of stop orders.