Market context
How to Read Cboe's 22 September Short-Sale Circuit-Breaker List
Cboe's 2026 circuit-breaker file contains 14 BZX trigger rows dated 22 September. Rule 201 makes those rows a short-sale price-test record for NMS stocks, while an options position still needs series-specific evidence.
How to Read Cboe's 22 September Short-Sale Circuit-Breaker List
Cboe's 2026 short-sale circuit-breaker historical file contains 14 rows with a Trigger Date of 22 September 2026. Every one of those rows records BZX as its primary listing exchange. The file is useful, but its subject is narrower than an options chain: it records a Rule 201 short-sale price-test state for a covered stock or exchange-traded product.
That distinction prevents a common overreach. A circuit-breaker row can document a regulatory trading condition for its named security. It cannot identify an option series, show a current option quote, prove a fill, or establish why an options participant acted.
The Cboe file is a dated record, with a defined set of fields
Cboe labels its live page "Short Sale Circuit Breakers" and identifies the displayed list as active on 22 September. Its downloadable 2026 CSV provides the durable record used here. The file names a primary listing exchange, symbol, security name, trigger date and time, end date and time, and rescission date and time.
Filtering that CSV to Trigger Date = 2026-09-22 produces 14 rows. The literal Trigger Time values in that subset run from 9:30:00 to 14:18:46; the CSV does not attach a time zone to those fields. This article therefore keeps the times as recorded and makes no time-zone conversion or release-to-session claim.
The row count is author arithmetic on the source file:
count(rows where Trigger Date = 2026-09-22) = 14
The calculation confirms the scope of this extract. It does not measure the size of any price decline, the amount of short selling, a security's liquidity, or a market-wide response.
Rule 201 applies a price test to a covered NMS stock
The SEC's Rule 201 compliance guide describes the trigger as an intraday decline of 10% or more from the covered security's prior regular-hours closing price. Once the trigger occurs, a trading center's policies must be designed to prevent the display or execution of a short-sale order at or below the current national best bid, unless an exception applies. The restriction applies for the triggering day and the following day.
The same guide says Rule 201 applies to NMS stocks and generally excludes options. A Cboe circuit-breaker row therefore supports a narrow conclusion: the listed stock or exchange-traded product entered the short-sale price-test regime recorded in Cboe's file. It does not announce an options halt, a preferred options strategy, or a directional forecast.
The price test also differs from a blanket ban on selling. It addresses how a covered short-sale order may be displayed or executed while the restriction is in force. Long sales, exceptions, order handling, borrow availability, margin and broker controls each have their own rules and facts.
An option needs a separate contract record
The Cboe CSV contains no option type, strike, expiration, option bid, option ask, quoted size, trade price, open-close status, customer position or execution record. It cannot therefore answer whether an option on, or economically related to, a named security was available at a particular price or could have been closed at that price.
An options reader who needs to evaluate a particular series should preserve a separate record with the underlying or product identifier, call or put, strike, expiry, bid and ask, quoted size, timestamp, venue or data-provider label, order terms and any actual fill. The options-chain guide explains the contract fields, while liquidity and bid-ask spreads explains why a displayed quote is different from an assured exit.
The circuit-breaker list can sit beside that research as regulatory context. It does not supply the missing contract-level evidence.
Keep the regulatory record and the options record separate
| Field | Record for 22 September 2026 |
|---|---|
| Source record | Cboe's 2026 short-sale circuit-breaker historical CSV |
| Date filter | Trigger Date = 2026-09-22 |
| Matching rows | 14, counted from the CSV |
| Primary listing exchange in those rows | BZX in all 14 rows |
| Trigger-time boundary | 9:30:00 through 14:18:46 as literal CSV fields, with no time-zone conversion in this article |
| Rule 201 consequence | A short-sale price-test restriction for a covered NMS stock after the stated trigger, subject to the rule's exceptions |
| Facts still required for an options conclusion | Exact series, quote or trade field, timestamp, market or provider, order terms and any execution evidence |
This is general options education, not personal financial, legal or tax advice. Options involve substantial risk. A regulatory status list cannot establish a suitable position, strike, expiry, entry, exit or expected result.
Sources
- Cboe, 2026 short-sale circuit-breaker historical CSV
- Cboe, Short Sale Circuit Breakers
- SEC, Short Sale Price Test Restrictions compliance guide
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Frequently asked questions
What does a Cboe short-sale circuit-breaker row show?
It records the Rule 201 short-sale price-test state for the named covered stock or exchange-traded product in Cboe's dated file. It is not an options-chain record.
Does SEC Rule 201 apply to options?
The SEC guide says Rule 201 applies to NMS stocks and generally excludes options. An options position still needs its own contract, quote and execution evidence.
Can a circuit-breaker row prove an option price or fill?
No. The CSV has no option type, strike, expiration, option quote, trade price, position or execution record.
Sources
Verified September 23, 2026
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