When I read this, I get a bit confused. I trade Equity index, FX, Metals, and Energy on CME. If I am reading this correctly, Thursday is Thanksgiving and that is the first of any change on those contracts where they HALT at 1pm Est?
Open, Close and Halt refer to a trading session. Trading sessions in this context are based on time, not a calendar date. For equity indexes... Wednesday = Normal hours... trade date of Wednesday Wednesday night = Normal hours... trade date of Friday. Thursday = trading HALTS at 12pm CT... trade date of Friday. Thursday night = Normal hours ... trade date of Friday. Friday = Trading closes early @ 12:15pm CT (for weekend)... trade date of Friday. After you get to Grandmas, grab a drumstick and cranberry sauce and trade... Or watch football! Plenty of time for the Pepto on Friday!!
Just excuse yourself and tell Grandma you are going to go put on a naked short, just to give her a little buzz.
So basically everything is open (fX futures, equity index futures, fixed income, crude, gold ) UNTIL the HALT on Thanksgiving (thursday) ?
It depends on what you understand is open, pre-open, halt and close. There is also non-final closes and final closes, and other bits. The details are a bit weary, but the state of the instrument has mostly to do with the types of orders that are accepted depending on the state of the market/instrument. Like in a pre-open state, I believe only new limit, and cancel orders on existing open orders will be accepted by the exchange. In a HALT state, you can modify an existing order, enter a new limit order, but not market order? Cannot recall those bits accurately. But basically, as an active trader, if you have simple needs, Open means you can trade, HALT means you cannot trade. (And close is obvious.)