Not always. Suspensions and halts get mixed up a lot...from what Ive seen (and read), a halt is often times issued to let the market digest "turning point" news/events (say a buyout or merger) with a given security (often times only lasting a few hours at most).....A suspension is a little more serious in the sense that it is kind of a "Hey, we smell something foul here..lets shut this sucker down until we get to the bottom of the issue at hand (good or bad)"