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Re:China stock trading halted early after 7% plunge again by muddyrivers on Thursday January 07, 2016 @01:34AM (#10856371)
In theory, you are right. So the circuit breaker is uni-directional in NYSE and NASDAQ. It is bi-directional in China, though.

The upside circuit break has very practical implications. China's current stock market was started in 1990. The general public began to paying attention to stock market around 2000. From the historical point of view, both the stock market and the general public's understanding on it are still in early stage. So the attitude on stock market is very speculative. Coincidentally, the economy in China has been undergoing stunning growth during this period, which generates a huge amount of wealth. This furthers the stock market's speculative nature. As a result, the volatility could be very high. It was not uncommon to see some stocks undergo several +/-20% changes during a week, before the upside circuit breaker was established. Its primary purpose is to curb the speculation.

Re:China stock trading halted early after 7% plunge again by muddyrivers on Thursday January 07, 2016 @01:40AM (#10856383)
As a side note, a wrong picture is placed in the article. In China's stock market, red indicates positive changes, while green indicates negative changes. It is the opposite to those in USA.
Re:China stock trading halted early after 7% plunge again by crdb on Thursday January 07, 2016 @01:50AM (#10856416)
Don't forget commodity futures limits [1]. I remember in 2011 when cotton was limit up for days in a row, with the market opening the next day and locking up immediately (and options showing a "synthetic" price much higher).

Limits are subtly different from circuit breakers in that trading can continue... within the limits.

[1] http://www.cftc.gov/industryoversight/marketsurveillance/spe...