A self-help alert is a notification issued by a trading exchange, such as the NYSE or Nasdaq, that a glitch has occurred on one of the exchanges and that exchange, therefore, should be temporarily bypassed to permit the regular flow of orders.

A self-help order, for example, could be issued by the Nasdaq if the NYSE had experienced a problem and needed to halt trading on any or all of its stocks. The alert would be canceled when the NYSE resolved its problems.