Velocity logic (CME Globex pause)
Velocity logic is a CME Globex control that pauses matching in a futures instrument when its price moves a predefined number of ticks within a predefined time. The instrument enters a reserved state for a few seconds, orders can be entered, modified and cancelled but not matched, and it reopens through an indicative opening price.
Senzoukria · Glossary · Updated September 2026
What triggers it
CME describes velocity logic as detecting market movement of a predefined number of ticks either up or down within a predefined time. The thresholds are product-specific. The trigger is about speed, not about the size of the day's move: a moderate move that happens in a fraction of a second can trip it while a larger, slower move does not.
The reserved state
- The instrument's status changes to reserved and matching stops.
- Participants can submit, modify and cancel orders; mass quotes are rejected.
- Fill-and-kill, minimum-quantity and market orders are eliminated.
- Associated options markets are automatically paused too, and resting mass quotes are cancelled.
- The status is communicated in the market data through security status messages.
How it reopens
The reserved state lasts a few seconds. The market reopens when the indicative opening price computed from the orders in the book lies inside the new, expanded no-review range; if it does not, the reserved period is extended and checked again, up to a maximum number of iterations. The reopening match then executes crossing orders at a single price.
What it looks like on a chart
Hypothetical sequence: a contract drops 40 ticks in under a second, trades stop for about five seconds, then the tape resumes with one large print at a single price followed by normal trading. A footprint shows a gap in time, a bar or cell with a large volume at one level, and a delta that depends on how the feed marks the reopening match.
In Senzoukria
The application does not read instrument status messages, so a velocity pause is not labelled. On a Databento feed, trades published without an aggressor side are set aside and counted rather than assigned to buyers or sellers; on Rithmic, when the aggressor field is absent the side is inferred by a tick test. In both cases a reopening match is worth checking before it is read as aggression.
Common mistakes
- Reading the few seconds of silence as a disconnection.
- Treating the reopening print as one aggressive order.
- Assuming a market order sent during the pause will fill at the reopen; it is eliminated.
Related
In the same section
- Circuit breakers
- Price banding
- Vertical spread
- Vega exposure
- Visible range volume profile
- Vega
- VIX
- Variation margin
Sources
- CME Group Client Systems Wiki: Velocity Logic (2026-09-25)
This page in other languages
Frequently asked questions
- How long does a velocity logic pause last?
- CME describes the reserved state as lasting a few seconds, extended if the indicative opening price is still outside the expanded range. The exact parameters are set per product.
- What happens to my resting orders during the pause?
- Resting limit orders stay in the book, and you can still modify or cancel them. Market, fill-and-kill and minimum-quantity orders are eliminated, so they must be resent after the reopen if still wanted.