In a financial market, either too many sell orders or too many buy orders. An imbalance of orders occurs after a major event, such as a company announcing that earnings will be lower than expected. An imbalance also may occur after an announcement of a takeover or any other major event. The stock market will delay the opening of a stock that has made a major announcement until the imbalance can be worked out. Trading of the particular stock also may be suspended during the trading day.