JP2005523506A - Trading tool for e-commerce - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed is a tool for buying and selling market commodities on an electronic exchange using a graphical user interface and user input device. The tool assists the trader in determining status, market trends and the position of the trader in the market.

Description

  This application claims the benefit of US Provisional Application No. 60 / 238,001, filed Oct. 6, 2000, which is the benefit of US Application No. 09 / 971,087, filed Oct. 5, 2001. This is a continuation application of US Patent Application No. 10 / 125,894 “Electronic Commerce Trading Tool” filed on April 19, 2002, which is a continuation-in-part application. US patent application Ser. No. 10 / 125,894 is filed on U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09 / 590,620 filed Jun. 9, 2000 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/589 filed Jun. 9, 2000. , 751, both of which claim the benefit of US Provisional Application No. 60 / 186,322, filed March 2, 2000. US patent application Ser. No. 10 / 125,894 also claims the benefit of US patent application Ser. No. 60 / 325,553, filed Oct. 1, 2001. The entire contents of each of the above referenced applications are hereby incorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to electronic commerce. In particular, the present invention is directed to a tool for trading products that can be bought and sold by volume and / or price.

Background Art Many exchanges around the world use electronic commerce to buy and sell stocks, bonds, futures, options, and other products, to some extent. These electronic exchanges are based on three components: a mainframe computer (host), a communication server, and an exchange participant computer (client). The host is the electronic center of a fully computerized electronic commerce system. Operation of the system deals with order matching, order book and position maintenance, price information, and database management and updates for daytime batch runs as well as online batch night runs. The host also includes an external interface that maintains continuous online contacts to cite vendor systems and other pricing information systems.

  The trader can be linked to the host via at least three types of structures: a high-speed data line, a high-speed communication server or the Internet. A high-speed data line establishes a direct connection between the client and the host. Another connection can be established by configuring a high speed network or communication server with strategic access points around the world where the trader is physically located. Data can be transmitted in both directions between the trader and the exchange via a dedicated high-speed communication line. Most exchange participants install two lines between the exchange and the client site or between the communication server and the client site as a safeguard against possible failures. Exchange internal computer systems are also often installed in backups as redundant means to protect system availability. The third connection uses the Internet. Here, the exchange and the trader communicate via a high-speed data line connected to the Internet. This allows the trader to be located anywhere that he can establish a connection to the Internet.

  Regardless of how the connection is established, the exchange participant's computer allows the trader to join the market. They use software that creates specialized interactive trading screens on the trader's desktop. The trading screen allows traders to enter and execute orders, get market quotes and monitor location. The scope and quality of the functions that a trader can use on his screen will vary depending on the software application being executed. Setting up an open interface in creating an electronic strategy for an exchange means that users can choose the means by which they access the exchange, depending on their trading style and internal requirements.

  Global stocks, bonds, futures, options, and other exchanges are unstable products that move rapidly. In order to make money in these markets, the trader must be able to react quickly. A skilled trader with the fastest software, the fastest communication, and the most accurate analysis can greatly improve the net profit of the trader himself or the trader's company. In fast moving markets, a slight speed advantage can generate significant revenue. In today's securities market, traders without technically advanced interfaces are in a severe and disadvantageous position.

  Regardless of which interface a trader uses to place an order in a market, each market provides the same information to all traders and requests the same information from all traders. If market bids and bids constitute market data and the exchange provides it, anyone who logs on to the transaction can receive this information. Similarly, all exchanges require that each order contains certain information. For example, a trader must provide information such as the name, quantity, limit, price, and several other variables of market products. If all of the order information is missing, the market will not accept the order.

  In existing systems, multiple elements of an order must be entered before the order is sent to the market, which is time consuming for the trader. Such factors include market commodity symbols, desired prices, quantities, and whether sell orders are desired or buy orders are desired. The more time it takes a trader to enter an order, the more likely it is that the price that the trader bids or wishes to bid on will change or become unavailable on the market. The market is fluid because many traders send orders to the market at the same time. In fact, successful markets strive to have traders who want to enter orders quickly, if not instantly, find matches and have so many deals that they can accept orders. . In such a fluid market, the prices of market products fluctuate rapidly. In the trading screen, this causes abrupt changes in the price and quantity fields in the market grid. If a trader intends to enter an order at a certain price but misses the price because the market price has moved before the trader has entered the order, the trader will be hundreds, thousands, or Millions of dollars can be lost. The faster a trader can buy and sell, the less likely the trader will miss the price of the trader, and the more likely the trader will make money.

  With the advent of e-commerce, it has become even easier for many people to access to participate in the market at any time. This increase in the number of potential traders has led to other changes, including more competitive markets, greater liquidity, rapidly changing prices and other changes. Because of the complexity that these changes bring, it has become increasingly important to have a system that allows the most accurate and calculated transactions in the most efficient manner. Accordingly, it is desirable for an electronic commerce system to assist a trader in adapting to the electronic market and provide tools that help the trader trade at a desired price.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Preferred embodiments relate to systems and methods for automatic relocation of market information within a graphic user interface.

  In accordance with a first aspect, a method is provided for automatically placing information about market products on a graphic user interface. The method includes receiving market information related to market products from an electronic exchange. Market information may include many items of interest related to prices. The method displays an information display area having a number of locations arranged such that each location matches a price level along at least a portion of a static price axis. The method also displays a number of indicators at the first time. Each indicator is associated with an item of interest, and each indicator is displayed at one of the locations in the information display area. The method further automatically re-establishes the static price axis upon detection of a predetermined condition so that the number of information display area locations matches another part of the static price axis at the second time. Including placing. In this way, the indicator is moved to a new location in the information display area that matches the price level on the static price axis associated with the indicator.

  In accordance with a second aspect, a method is provided for automatically rearranging market information regarding a market product on a graphic user interface, the method comprising: Includes displaying items. At least one item of interest from the plurality of items of interest is identified as a basis for automatically placing the plurality of items of interest. The display on the trading interface is updated as market information changes to move one or more of the items of interest relative to a static scale. The method then automatically rearranges the plurality of items of interest in response to the identified items of interest.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention As will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, trading tools according to various preferred embodiments are provided to facilitate, among other things, fast and accurate order entry. Some of the trading tools work particularly well with trading displays showing operational order quantities and / or bid and bid quantities or other market information displayed in relation to a static price scale or axis. Examples of such trading displays are depicted in FIGS. In this context, it should be understood that static does not mean immobility, but rather is fixed in relation. For example, using a static price scale scale, the scale scale itself may be movable, but the prices represented remain fixed with respect to each other, subject to concatenation or expansion as described below. Instead, trading applications that generate various trading displays may be used.

  In preferred embodiments, one or more of the trading tools described herein are implemented on a computer or electronic terminal. The computer can communicate either directly or indirectly (using an intermediary device) with one or more exchanges to send and receive information about markets, market commodities or trading orders. The computer or terminal can interact with the trader and create the content and characteristics of the buy and sell orders that are sent to the exchange. The trading application allows a trader to display market data, enter and cancel trade orders, and / or display orders. The scope of the present invention is not limited by the type of terminal or device used, and is not limited to any particular type of trading application. Rather, the trading tool may be implemented in any existing or future terminal or device with processing capabilities to perform the functions described herein.

  As used herein, the word “market product” only refers to the subject matter of the transaction. It includes anything that can be traded in quantity and / or price. Examples of such objects include, but are not limited to, funds, derivatives, and combinations of the above, as well as all types of financial instruments traded such as stocks, options, bonds, futures, currencies and warrants. Is not to be done. Market products may be either “real”, such as objects listed by an exchange for sale, or “composite”, such as a combination of real products created by a user.

  Further, the specification may refer to a single click of the mouse as an example of a single user action for input and interaction with the terminal display. In order to be able to take action in the shortest amount of time, the preferred embodiment of the trading application reacts when a mouse button is pressed rather than waiting for an up-click. While this may explain the preferred mode of interaction, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the use of a mouse as an input device or a mouse button click as a single user action. Rather, any action by the user may be considered as a single action of the user, regardless of whether it comprises one or more clicks of a mouse button or other input device such as a keyboard, joystick or touch screen. .

  The electronic commerce system may be configured to allow trading on a single or multiple exchanges simultaneously. For example, such a system connection is depicted in FIG. This illustration shows a plurality of host exchanges 101-103 connected to gateways 107-109 through routes 104-106. Next, multiple client terminals 110-116 for use as trading stations can trade on multiple exchanges through their connections to gateways 107-109. Note that the trading tool of the preferred embodiment is not limited to a specific network architecture, but rather may be applied with utilities at any network workstation or other client device that can be used for e-commerce. There is a need.

  When an electronic commerce system is configured to receive data from multiple exchanges, it is preferable to convert the data from each exchange into a format that can be displayed using a graphic user interface. In the example illustrated in FIG. 1, an application program interface (“TT API” as depicted in FIG. 1) converts the format of incoming data from different exchanges into a common data format. This conversion function of the preferred embodiment may be located anywhere in the network, such as at the gateway server, at individual workstations, or both. In addition, storage elements at gateway servers, client workstations, and / or other external storage devices list users' active orders in the market, ie those orders that have not been accepted or canceled. Historical data, such as order books, may be cached, buffered, or stored. Information from various exchanges can be displayed in one or more windows on the client workstation. Thus, throughout the remainder of the specification, reference is made to a single exchange to which a trading terminal is connected, while the scope of the present invention refers to a single trading terminal in accordance with the trading method described herein. Includes the ability to use and trade on multiple exchanges.

  A commercially available trading application that allows users to buy and sell on systems such as those illustrated in FIG. 1 is X_TRADER® from Trading Technologies International Inc. of Chicago, Illinois. ). X_TRADER (R) also provides an electronic commerce interface called MD_TRADER (TM) in which operational order quantities and / or bid and bid quantities are displayed in association with a static price scale scale. However, the preferred embodiment is not limited to a specific product that performs a conversion function, a storage function, and / or a display function.

  Several preferred embodiments include a display of “market depth” and / or a user can display the market depth of a commodity product with a single input, such as a click on a computer mouse button. Allow you to enter orders. As used herein, market depth is represented by an available order book that includes the amount of current buy and sell orders and their associated prices. In other words, subject to the limits noted below, the market depth is the amount of available buy orders and sell orders that are entered at a specific price in addition to the “in-place market” respectively. . For market products that are bought and sold, the on-site market is the highest bid and the lowest bid. For embodiments relating to displays including market depth, the interfaces as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 are exemplary. Other trading applications that can display market depth are suitable alternatives unless otherwise noted. Furthermore, the preferred embodiment is not limited to electronic commerce applications that display market depth, but can be utilized with any electronic commerce application.

  In general, an exchange sends price, order and fill information to the gateway 107-109. A trading application such as X_TRADER® processes this information and maps it to the location of a theoretical grid program or other comparable mapping technique for mapping data to the screen. The physical mapping of such information to a screen grid for display on client devices such as client devices 110-116 may be performed by any technique known to those skilled in the art. The present invention is not limited by the method used to map the data to the screen display.

  The ability to fully display the system's market depth usually depends on how much market depth the exchange offers. For example, some exchanges provide infinite market depth, while others offer no market depth at all, or offer only a few orders away from the on-site market. The user can also preferably select how much of the market depth to display on the trader's screen. For example, the user may only want the market depth to be displayed within a predetermined number of ticks from the in-place market.

  FIG. 2 depicts the electronic commerce interface described in co-pending US patent application Ser. No. 09 / 589,751 incorporated above. This display and system is only one example of a type of trading system that may incorporate one or more aspects of the present invention. The display shows the in-place market and the depth of the market for any market product being bought and sold. The first row shows the in-place market for the marketed commodity being traded, the best (best) bid and quantity, and the best (lowest) bid and quantity. The 2nd to 5th lines represent the “market depth” of the marketed goods being bought and sold. In one preferred embodiment, the display of the market depth (lines 2-5) shows the second best bid available in column 203 and the bid price in 204. The operational bid amount and the ask amount for each price level are also displayed in columns 202 and 205, respectively (in-place market-first row). The price and quantity of the in-place market and the depth of the market dynamically update in real time as such information is relayed from the market.

  In the screen display shown in FIG. 2, the marketed product (contract) being bought and sold is represented on the first line by the character string “CDH0”. Depth column 201 displays various colors to inform the trader of the status. Yellow indicates that the program application is waiting for data. Red indicates that the market depth has “timed out” without receiving data from the server. Green indicates that the data has just been updated. The headings for the other columns in this figure and all other figures are defined as follows: BidQty (bid price amount) in column 202: Amount of each bid price, BidPrc (bid price) in column 203: Price of each bid price, AskPrc (bid price) in column 204: Ask price in each column, AskQty in column 205 (Ask Price Amount): Amount of each operational Ask Price, LastPrc (Previous Price) in the column 206: Previous Bid Price and Ask Price matched in the market, and LastQty (Previous Amount) in the Column 207: Amount traded at the previous price. Total in column 208 represents the total trading volume of a given market item.

  The configuration of the screen display itself informs the user in a more convenient and efficient way than many existing systems. Traders can confirm the trend of market orders, so they get a taste by looking at the depth of the market. The market depth indication shows the trader the interest that the market has for a given market commodity at various price levels.

  Another type of display system and associated trading method that may be used with the preferred embodiment is described in detail in US application Ser. No. 09 / 590,692, filed Jun. 9, 2000. This method ensures fast and accurate execution of trades by displaying information such as market depth and operational orders in relation to a static price axis or scale. One embodiment that uses this type of display system displays in the vertical plane the depth of the market that logically fluctuates up and down as the market price fluctuates. The invention is not limited to a particular display—information could be displayed in a horizontal plane, n-dimensional, or any other manner. This allows traders to buy and sell quickly and efficiently. An example of such display is depicted in the screen display of FIG.

  In fast moving markets where changing price levels are traded (ie, buy and sell orders entering the market are matched at different prices), traders enter orders quickly and display market information quickly -It is useful to be able to analyze. The type of display depicted in FIG. 3 allows the trader to quickly enter an order at a particular price level by clicking next to the static price level, which in the preferred embodiment is displayed as a static column, Information such as orders can be confirmed quickly and easily. Static prices can be displayed in any matter including rows, any angle, or n dimensions without departing from the invention. Also, use only certain colors or other methods to display only market depth levels, operational orders, or other information relative to each other along a scale or axis representing a certain price Alternatively, the static price value may not be displayed.

  The display illustrated in FIG. 3 provides an ordering system, market grid, filling window and market order summary in one simple window. Such a condensed display simplifies the trading system by efficiently entering and tracking trades. This system shows the depth of the market in a logical vertical or horizontal or other convenient angle or shape. For convenience, a vertical field is shown and described in the figure, but the field could be horizontal or diagonal or n-dimensional. The system further accelerates the speed of trading and increases the likelihood of entering orders at the desired price in the desired quantity. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the display is a static vertical column of prices, and the bid and bid amounts are displayed in a vertical column next to the price column and aligned with the corresponding bids and bids. doing.

  The quantity of buy orders is in a column 300 called BidQ and the quantity of sell orders is in a column 302 called AskQ. A typical price for a given market product is shown in column 304, the price is static and is an increment in "ticks", and the tick is the smallest change in price value set by the exchange for each market product. is there. The price can be displayed as a tick, as a multiple of ticks, or in any other manner. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, the column does not display the entire price (eg, 95.89), but rather displays only the last two digits (eg, 89). As long as the mandatory price information is communicated to the user, other price indication specifications may be used instead. In the example shown, the in-place market cell 306 is 89 (best bid) at 18 (best buy order quantity) and 90 (best bid order) at 20 (best sell order quantity). In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, these three columns 300, 302 and 304 are shown in different colors so that the trader can quickly distinguish them.

  The value in the price column is static. That is, they typically do not change position unless a re-centering command is received (detailed below). However, the bid and bid strings 300 and 302 are dynamic. That is, they move up and down (in the vertical example) to reflect the market depth of a given market commodity. The LTQ column 308 indicates the previous sales volume of market products. The relative position of the quantity value with respect to the price value reflects the price at which the quantity was bought and sold. A column 310 called E / W (executed / operated) displays the current status of the trader's order. The status of each order is displayed in the price line where it was entered. For example, in cell 312, the number next to S indicates the number of lots ordered by a trader sold at the price for that particular row. The number next to W indicates the number of lots ordered by a trader who has ordered but not accepted in the market-that is, the system is working to fulfill the order. A blank in this column indicates that an order has not been entered or is not functioning at that price. In cell 314, the number next to B indicates the number of lots ordered by the trader bought at the price for that particular row. The number next to W indicates the number of lots ordered by a trader who is in the market but not responding-that is, the system is working to fulfill the order.

  Various parameters are set and information is provided in column 316. For example, “10:48:44” in the cell 318 indicates the actual time. The L and R fields of the cell 320 indicate quantity values and may be added to the entered order quantity. This process is described below for transactions under this system. Below the L and R fields of the cell 322, a number representing the current market volume is displayed. This is the number of lots traded for the selected market item. “X10” in the cell 324 displays the net quantity, that is, the current position of the trader in the selected market commodity. The number “10” represents the purchase of the trader minus the purchase. Cell 326 is the “current amount”. This field represents the amount of the next order that the trader will send to the market. This can be adjusted by right clicking and left clicking (up and down) or by clicking a button displayed below the current amount in cell 328. These buttons increase the current amount by the amount shown. For example, it increases by 10 for “10”, increases by 100 for “1H”, and increases by 1000 for “1K”. Cell 330 is a clear button. Clicking this button clears the current quantity field. Cell 332 is a quantity description. This is a pull-down menu that allows the trader to choose from three quantity descriptions. In one embodiment, the pull-down menu is displayed when a window arrow button is clicked. The window includes NetPos (net position), Offset (offset), and fields that allow the trader to enter a number. Entering a number in this field sets the default purchase or sales volume. Selecting “Offset” in this field enables the L / R button of the cell 320. When “NetPos (net position)” is selected in this field, the current net amount (trader net position) is set as the next trading amount of the trader. Cell 334 is a +/− button. These buttons change the screen size-either larger (+) or smaller (-). Cell 336 is used to call net 0. Clicking this button resets the net quantity (cell 332) to zero. Cell 338 is used to call a net real. Clicking this button resets the net quantity (cell 322) to its actual position. It should be understood that the preferred embodiment is not limited to trading applications that display these particular buttons. Preferably, the parameters such as the displayed buttons and the amount set with those buttons are customizable or selectable by the user.

  The in-place market and the depth of the market go up and down as the price of the market rises and falls. For example, FIG. 4 is a screen that displays the same market as the market of FIG. 3, but is the interval after the on-site market of cell 400 has risen by 3 ticks. Here, the on-site market for market products is 92 (best bid price) at 43 (best buy order quantity) and 93 (best bid price) at 63 (best sell order quantity). Comparing FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the price string remained static, but the corresponding bids and bids were rising in the price string.

  As the market moves up or down the price column, the on-site market, operational orders, last trade price and / or quantity, or other items that may be of interest move up and down the price column displayed on the trader's screen. . Usually, the trader wants to be able to ascertain the on-site market in order to evaluate future trades. The system addresses this problem with a positioning function. Single clicking on any point in the gray zone 324 below the “Net Real” button in FIG. 3 causes the system to reposition the in-place market on the trader's screen. As an alternative, the positioning function may be programmed to be triggered by clicking in any area of the display. Also, when using a three button mouse, clicking on the middle mouse button will reposition the in-place market on the trader screen regardless of the location of the mouse pointer. Alternatively, as noted above, the display may be rearranged based on other items of interest beside the in-place market.

  You can display and enable the same information and functions in a horizontal style or other style. Just as the market moves up and down the vertical scale in this preferred embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, the market moves from side to side in a horizontal display. The same information is provided as the same data collected from the dynamic display of data. It is envisioned that other orientations are used to dynamically display the data, and that such orientation is intended to be within the scope of the present invention.

The special features of the display embodiment as illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4 are typical of one embodiment of the screen display that can be used with the present invention. However, the present invention is by no means limited to screen displays that utilize each of these functions.

Placing a buy / sell order Next, buying and selling market goods, specifically placing a buy / sell order using a representative display of the type shown in FIG. Using the display and trading method, the trader first specifies the desired commodity and, if applicable, the default quantity. The trader can then buy and sell by placing an icon and displaying an action, for example, by clicking the right mouse button or the left mouse button. The term “click” may refer to a “half click”, ie, an event of pressing a button for an action depending on the requirements or preferences of the user and / or system designer.

To create a trade order and determine the quantity and price associated with the trade order, the following equation is used by this exemplary system: The following abbreviations are used in these formulas: That is, P = price value (in ticks) of the clicked row, R = R field value, L = L field value, Q = current quantity, Q _a = P equal to or better than P The sum of all quantities in the AskQ column, the sum of all quantities in the BidQ column at a price equal to or better than Q _b = P, N = current net position, Bo = buy order sent to the market, and So = Sell order sent to the market.

When the order BidQ field entered using the right mouse button is clicked Bo = (Q _a + R) P (Equation 1)
When the AskQ field is clicked: So = (Q _b + R) P (Formula 2)
If the “Offset” mode is selected in the order quantity description field entered using the left mouse button,
When the BidQ field is clicked Bo = (Q _a + L) P (Formula 3)
When the AskQ field is clicked: So = (Q _b + L) P (Formula 4)
If the “number” mode is selected in the quantity description field,
Bo = QP (Formula 5)
So = QP (Formula 6)
If “NetPos” is selected in the quantity description field,
Bo = NP (Formula 7)
So = NP (Formula 8)
The order can also be sent to the market as to the amount that varies depending on the amount available in the market, the amount preset by the trader, and which mouse button the trader clicks. Using this feature, a trader can buy or sell all of the bids or bids in the market at a price selected with a single click or better than a value selected with a single click. The trader could also add or subtract a pre-set amount from the market pending amount. When a trader clicks in a trading cell—that is, a BidQ or AskQ column, the trader enters an order into the market. The order parameters depend on which mouse button the trader clicks and what preset values the trader has set.

  Using the screen display or display from FIG. 5, buying and selling orders using the display and transaction method will now be described by way of example. If you left-click on 18 in the BidQ column 500, you will purchase 17 lots (quantity # selected in the quantity description pull-down menu cell 502) of market products at a price of 89 (the corresponding price in the Prc (price) column 504) An order is sent to the market. Similarly, left clicking on 20 in AskQ column 506 sends an order to the market that column 506 sells 17 lots at price 90.

  For example, using the right mouse button, the order is the price corresponding to the line clicked for the total order quantity in the market, equal to or better than the price of that line plus the quantity in R field 508. Will be sent to the market. Thus, right-clicking in the AskQ column 506 of the 87 price row sends a sell order to the market at a price of 87 and an amount of 150, where 150 is the sum of all the quantities 30, 97, 18 and 5 is there. The quantities 30, 97 and 18 are all of the market quantities that will meet or improve the trader's 87 sell order price. These quantities are displayed in the BidQ column 500 because this column represents market pending orders to purchase market products at their corresponding prices. The quantity 5 is an amount set in advance in the R field 508.

  Similarly, right-clicking on the BidQ column 500 at the same price level of 87 will send a buy limit order of quantity 5 at a price of 87 to the market. The amount is determined in the same manner as described above. However, in this example, there are no orders equal to or improving the price chosen for the market—the AskQ column 506 has no amount equal to or improving this price. Thus, the sum of equal or better quantities is zero (“0”). The total order entered by the trader is the value of the R field 508 and is 5.

  For example, the order entered with the left mouse button and the “Offset” option selected in the quantity description field 502 is calculated in the same manner as above, but the quantity in the L field 510 instead of the quantity in the R field 508. Is added. Thus, left-clicking the BidQ column 500 in the 92 price row sends a buy order to the market with a price of 92 and an amount of 96. The quantity 96 is the sum of all of the quantities 45, 28, 20 and 3. 45, 28, and 20 are all the quantities in the market that will meet or improve the trader buy order price of 92. These quantities are displayed in the AskQ column 506 because this column represents pending orders in the market for selling commodity products at their corresponding prices.

  The value of the L field or R field 510, 508 may be a negative number. This will effectively reduce the total amount sent to the market. In other words, in the example of right clicking on the AskQ column 506 of the 87 price row, if the R field 508 is -5, the total amount sent to the market would be 140 (30 + 97 + 18 + (-5)).

  If the trader selects the “NetPos” option in the quantity description field 502, for example, as described above, the right click will still work. For example, a left click will enter an order with a price that matches the clicked price line and an amount equal to the trader's current net position. The trader's net position is the trader's current location on the selected market product. In other words, if the trader purchases 10 more market items than the trader has sold, this value will be 10. NetPos will not affect the amount of orders sent with a right click.

  When the trader selects a number in the quantity description, a left click will send an order to the market for the current quantity selected by the trader. The default value for the current quantity is the number entered in the quantity description field, but it could be changed by adjusting the number in the current quantity field 502.

  Embodiments of the system also allow a trader to delete all of his operational orders by single-clicking either the right mouse button or the left mouse button anywhere in the previous trading volume (LTQ) column 512. (This functionality can be provided in the general area of the screen in addition or as an alternative). This allows the trader to exit the market immediately. Embodiments of the present invention also allow traders to delete all of their orders from the market at a specific field price level. Clicking either mouse button in the executed / operational (E / W) column 514 deletes all operational orders in the clicked cell. Thus, if a trader thinks that an order sent in the past at a specific price that is not accepted by the trader is a bad deal, the trader can delete these orders with a single click.

  A process for placing a buy and sell order using the display and trading method as described above is illustrated in the flowchart of FIG. Prior to placing a trade order, the system provides preliminary fields for the input of data such as customer profile, order quantity, and maximum trade quantity options. Once these reserve fields have been entered and the trader indicates a desire to place a trade order, the system determines whether the trader has performed the necessary actions to perform the trade. For example, the present invention determines whether a mouse pointer has been placed over a tradeable cell when an attempt is made to click buy / sell. If it is determined that a feasible buy / sell is requested, the system creates a limit order with an amount and price based on preliminary settings and market prices and sends it to the exchange. The system gives the trader the opportunity to change the order quantity preset button. The default amounts for these power buttons are 1, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100. However, in the preferred embodiment, the trader can change some or all of these default quantities by performing a right click with each particular button and manually entering another quantity.

  In step 600, a trader has a display on a trading terminal screen showing a market for a given market commodity. In step 602, the parameters are set from the pull-down menus to appropriate fields such as L and R fields, and current quantity field, NetPos (net position) field or Offset (offset) field. In step 604, the mouse pointer is placed on the displayed cell by the trader and clicked. In step 606, the system determines whether the clicked cell is a buyable and sellable cell (ie, in the AskQ or BidQ column). If it is not a tradeable cell, then a buy / sell order is not created or transmitted at step 608, rather other quantities are adjusted or functions are performed based on the selected cell. Otherwise, at step 610, the system determines whether the click was on the left or right mouse button. If it was right, at step 612, the system uses the amount in the R field when it determines the total amount of the order at step 614. If the left button is clicked, at step 616 the system determines which quantity description has been selected. That is, Offset (offset), NetPos (net position) or actual number.

  If Offset is chosen, the system uses the L field quantity at step 618 when it determines the total quantity of the order at step 614. When NetPos is selected, in step 620, the system determines that the total volume of the trade order is the current NetPos value—the trader's net position for a given market commodity. If an actual number was used as the quantity description, at step 622 the system determines whether the total quantity of the buy / sell order is the current quantity entered. In step 614, the system adds the total volume of the buy / sell order to the price of the clicked row or equals the total price of the market (if step 612 was taken) R It is determined to be the value of the field, or (if step 618 is taken) the value of the L field. This aggregates the amount of each order in the market that is in response to the order being entered by the trader (to which L or R values are added).

  After any of steps 614, 622 or 620, the system determines in step 624 which column was clicked, ie, BidQ or AskQ. If AskQ is clicked, in step 626 the system sends a sell limit order to the market at a price corresponding to the total amount row already determined. If BidQ is clicked, at step 628 the system sends a buy limit order to the market at a price corresponding to the already determined total amount row. The process described above is only one embodiment, and the invention is not limited to this particular process or any process.

  One commercially available product that implements the type of display screen depicted in FIGS. 2 and 3 is sold under the trademark X_TRADER® by Trading Technologies International, Inc. of Chicago, Illinois. A display screen of the type depicted in FIG. 3 may be referred to herein as an MD_TRADER ™ display. However, as described above, the preferred embodiment trading tool can be used with virtually any electronic commerce application unless otherwise noted.

In view of the above information regarding the graphic user interface for electronic commerce and its use, a number of trading tools are now described. For example, one or more of these trading tools may be incorporated into a trading application to assist traders and improve trading efficiency and timeliness.

Previous Trading Volume Marker The “Last Trading Volume (LTQ) Marker” according to the preferred embodiment provides an indication of the previous trading volume (LTQ). In displays that include dynamic market information associated with a static price scale, such as the MD_TRADER ™ display, the LTQ marker may move up and down the LTQ column as the associated LTQ price changes. One form of LTQ marker 700 is illustrated in FIG. 7, where both numerical values and colors or shading are used. In the case of continuous trading at the same price, the LTQ marker 700 can indicate, for example, either i) the cumulative amount of all serial sales at the previous trading price, or ii) only the latest trading at the previous trading price. There is sex. Accumulation of the total amount for multiple LTQ occurrences usually depends on the gateway (ie, the exchange). However, most gateways will accumulate quantities. For gateways that do not accumulate LTQ, a trading application such as the application program interface depicted in FIG. 1 may convert the LTQ into a cumulative indicator, if desired.

  In general, as long as the contract continues to buy and sell at the same specific price, the LTQ accumulates. When the contract is traded at the new price, the marker moves beside that price and the quantity is displayed inside the indicator box, reflecting only the quantity of the previous trade. If the contract is traded at the price at which the past contract was traded, the indicator will return to that price level and the indicator box will again display only its previous trading volume (that is, the previous marker was at this price) Sometimes don't add the amount of new trades to the displayed amount). The indicator located in the LTQ column 702 does not simply display the number of previous trades. Rather, the marker also indicates to the user the price at which the sale occurred, by being next to the price at which the previous contract was traded (in price column 704). The LTQ marker 700 is preferably but not necessarily associated with the corresponding previous purchase price 706. It is not necessary that a price or quantity number be associated with a marker.

  Thus, according to the preferred embodiment, the LTQ marker 700 is a visual indicator of the previous trading volume. Any type of marker may be used as long as it is recognized by the user as a quantity indicator. Other indicators such as color or sliding scales, graphic indicators such as thermometer scales or speedometer scales may be used instead as markers. The graphic indicator may include an associated numerical value, but is not required to include it. However, in an additional alternative, a combination of indicators may be used to depict the characteristics of an item of interest such as LTQ. For example, the quantity itself may be presented numerically or graphically, and the color illustrates trends such as increasing or decreasing volume, ie rate of change of volume, or rising or falling price related to LTQ May be used together with a quantity indicator. In addition, although described in the preceding paragraphs as LQ markers, these types of markers may instead be used for any item in the user interface that may be of interest to the user. .

In addition, when the user interface is configured to display a consolidated static price scale, eg, as described below under the heading of a consolidation control icon, the LTQ cell 708 may be subdivided into price consolidation increments and the LTQ The marker may be shown as a horizontal line, for example, within the corresponding subsection of the LTQ cell 708. In this example, the position of the graphic indicator, which is a horizontal line in the LTQ cell 708, provides a visual indication of the price within the scope of the last trade volume traded.

Marker Coloring As noted above, items of interest in the user interface may be color coded or highlighted using color or grayscale shading. In the preferred embodiment, the user interface is of the type illustrated in FIG. 3 with market data associated with a static price scale, such as the MD_TRADER ™ interface, and the color is, for example, a price associated with a past LTQ. Used with the LTQ marker to provide a visual distinction between price value increases or decreases associated with the previous trading volume (LTQ) from the value. In MD_TRADER ™, the LTQ may be presented as a highlighted cell in the LTQ column 702 as illustrated in FIG. 7 displayed at a level corresponding to the previous sale price (LTP) 706. In the preferred embodiment, the highlighted cells change color based on market price movements. For example, the LTQ cell 710 may be displayed with a background that is one color, such as blue, when the price change associated with the LTQ is an increase from the price associated with the past LTQ 708. On the other hand, the LTQ cell 712 may be displayed with another color background, such as red, when price fluctuations from the previous LTQ 708 decrease.

  In addition, the color may provide additional information about items of interest such as LTQ. For example, when the market item in question has not yet been bought and sold during its current trading session, the LTQ column 702 may be displayed in a particular color, such as gray, for that color until the quantity is filled. It can remain. When the amount is filled, the cell displaying the first LTQ for that session is highlighted in a particular color, such as green, that shows neither uptics nor downtics from past LTGs. Subsequent filling, if the price level does not change from one trade to another, the LTQ cell is highlighted for the example in either blue or red, in which case the cell is until the price of the LTQ has changed It remains green.

  This is because the LTQ display and color display (s) provide a visual basis for market price movements, status or trends, so that traders can quickly absorb additional information such as the direction of market activity. This is an advantage for the trader in that it can be done. As a result of checking the price fluctuations of the previous trading volume, the trader can more easily determine market status and trends, thereby improving the likelihood that the trader will enter orders and accept those orders at a favorable price. .

The color coding of the LTQ is displayed as colored cells (eg, 700, 708, and 710) in the LTQ column 72 and corresponds to the price row for that trading volume. In some preferred embodiments, by default, colored cells are displayed in blue when the LTQ ticks upward in price from the past LTQ, and red in the case when the LTQ ticks down in price from the past LTQ. In the case where the price level remains the same from one trade to the next, it is displayed in green. These preferred colors are default settings in some embodiments, but preferably the trading application allows the trader to change the color display according to the trader's own preferences. In addition, although particular embodiments have been described with respect to colors applied to cells, the present invention is not limited to embodiments where colors are applied to cells. For example, color may be applied to any graphic indicator, such as a horizontal line used as an LTQ marker in the previous section to depict the characteristics of the item of interest.

Different Price Feed Overlays In one embodiment, the trading application implements a “various price feed overlay”. The trading application may be X_TRADER® referred to above, or any other commercial product adapted as described herein. In many instances, certain market products are bought and sold only on certain exchanges. However, in other examples, market commodities may be bought and sold on multiple exchanges. This is one example when the user is interested in simultaneous information from different price feeds, ie feeds from different exchanges for a particular market product. As another example, Eulex provides both an in-market market stream and a market depth stream. In general, the in-market market stream is faster than the market depth stream. In accordance with the preferred embodiment, the various streams are used by trading applications to populate and display information about commodity products in the trading window, whether from a single exchange or from multiple exchanges. Is done.

  Many exchanges provide multiple price streams, but these exchanges often only provide those feeds that a trader requires. Each trader may request all the streams, known as market depth, for example, for a particular market product, in an amount currently available in the market, or the trader may only request to receive in-market prices. In this case, the on-site market is the highest purchase price and the lowest selling price that are available for that commodity. This is also known as the best purchase price and the best selling price. Many traders concentrate on these best prices and therefore do not want a market depth stream. Thus, multiple exchanges benefit from saving the bandwidth of traders wishing to receive only in-market streams while meeting user preferences by providing various price feeds.

  When using the “overlay” function, the system preferably displays all of the information it receives and the display continuously updates the cells. By having the ability to accept or accept multiple feeds or streams, the trader will allow other feeds to continue to update market information if one feed slows or becomes unavailable It gives you a greater sense of security in terms of recognizing

  FIGS. 8 and 9 illustrate the transfer of data from the exchange 802 to the client terminal 804 via parallel feeds carrying the first price packet 806, the second price packet, and 808, respectively, through the router 810 and the gateway 812. A network 800 is shown. The client terminal 804 executes a trading application such as X_TRADER (registered trademark) that presents data conveyed to the user by a feed. If one of the feeds causes a disruption in the network called “temporary interruption” or lost data, packets from the top feed are sent into the trader's display, as shown at 814 in FIG. Is hindered. Confusion is not limited to situations where data is permanently lost, as the term is used herein, but rather is delayed when data is corrupted, slow, or otherwise Used generically to cover examples when done. If there is no spare feed in the example of lost data, there will be no price on the display and trading opportunities will be lost. In the case of slow or delayed data and no spare feed, trading decisions will be made based on information that has expired.

  Although depicted as a disruption 814 that occurs between the gateway 812 and the client terminal 804, the feed may be disrupted at any point from the exchange 802 to the client terminal 804. Due to the parallel feed, the display of current information is not interrupted regardless of the cause of confusion. Furthermore, the parallel feed allows the user to take advantage of the speed difference between the two feeds and displays the best available information to the user. It should be noted that although the stream is depicted as originating from one exchange 802, the stream can instead originate at various exchanges. Furthermore, although two feeds are usually sufficient, the preferred embodiment is not so limited and information from more than two feeds may be displayed simultaneously.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the “Overlay Difference Price Feed” is enabled by checking or removing the “Use Inside Market Prices” in the Properties dialog box. Or can be disabled. Other techniques for enabling this feature may be used instead. If multiple feeds are monitored and displayed, the trading application may give the user an option to determine which feed data is displayed, in an example where the data from the feeds is not the same. For example, in an example where feeds occur on different exchanges, the user may choose to display the best price from different feeds. In an additional example where the feed occurs on the same exchange, information from the most recent packet may be displayed regardless of which feed carried the previously displayed packet. Other alternatives will become apparent upon reviewing the above.

Displaying Total Operating Volume Another preferred embodiment provides the trader with an indication of the total volume being operated in the market for the trader's buy and sell orders. The total traded volume of the trader represents the total unfilled volume of all orders that have been entered by the trader but have not yet been accepted in the market. For example, a trading application may display the total operational purchases and total operational sales for specific market products being bought and sold and for specific traders who entered those quantities into the market. FIG. 10 shows, by way of example, a display of a trader having separate operational sales volumes (at 1000) of 14, 13, and 1 and (at 1002) 5, 1, 15, 3, and 1 separate operational purchase volumes. . This example takes advantage of the MD_TRADER ™ trading interface, but any type of trading interface may be used instead. The trading application calculates the total of the trader's operational sales amount (14 + 13 + 1 = 28) and the total of the trader's operational purchase amount (5 + 1 + 15 + 3 + 1 = 25). In this example, the total amount is displayed in the cell 1004. The total operational volume may be displayed in any way or location that is useful to the user. In another modification of the present embodiment, the user may directly click either the total purchase amount display cell or the total sales amount display cell in order to delete the operation amount displayed in those cells.
The display of the total operational amount of the trader in cell 1004 is positive for the trader in that it provides the total exposure from the operational amount of the trader. The display is dynamic in that the order quantity is continuously updated as new orders are entered and other orders are accepted, but the display of quantities at various market prices is limited by the size of the display screen. ing. Thus, a trader may have an operational volume that is not recognized by the trader at a price that does not appear in the display window. The total operational amount display helps to alleviate this drawback by showing the trader the cumulative amount of purchase and sales of the trader. If the display displays something other than zero, the trader will know that the trader has an operational volume that is not currently being served in the market.

In the preferred embodiment, the total operational display is presented to the user with a button that may be actuated by the user, as illustrated in cell 1004 of FIG. As noted above, the user may use an input device, such as a mouse, to click on the buttons 1006, 1008, thereby deleting the operational order associated with the total operational volume displayed. One button 1006 displays the total purchase operation amount. Another button 1008 displays the total sales operation amount. The total displayed by the buttons 1006 and 1008 is calculated from the untotalized operation amount as displayed in the operation amount column 1010 as shown in FIG. In both the operational quantity column 1010 and the total quantity buttons 1006, 1008, the purchase quantity is highlighted in a color such as blue in the preferred embodiment, and the sales quantity is highlighted in another color such as red in the preferred embodiment. The user preferably has the option of displaying a total amount button via a property setting window, for example in MD_TRADER ™. The quantity button is displayed by default for new sessions. Of course, the total operational volume may be displayed by any trading application as an alternative to the type of display depicted in FIG.

Dynamic Indicator Another preferred embodiment provides the user with the ability to paste a dynamic indicator for display, for example on a static price scale. In some embodiments, the first dynamic indicator column is displayed next to the buy order quantity column and the second dynamic indicator column is displayed next to the sell order quantity column. The dynamic indicator may be applied to the dynamic indicator column from a spreadsheet, such as Microsoft EXCEL, or other third-party charting software or analysis software to give the user a visual indicator, such as a specific price, for example. . The display screen may be an MD_TRADER ™ style display generated by, for example, an X_TRADER ™ trading application, although other trading applications and trading interfaces may be used instead.

  The dynamic indicator is preferably associated with market information. In the preferred embodiment, the dynamic indicator is associated with the price, although it may instead be associated with any other item of interest to the user. Color coding may be applied to the dynamic indicator.

  A dynamic indicator may be associated with a particular price as set by a trader using third party software, for example when used in an MD_TRADER ™ style display, and may be displayed with respect to a static price scale . If the dynamic indicator is associated with a price that is outside the visible area of the trader's display, it preferably becomes visible on the screen when the associated price enters view. Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention includes copying and pasting to and from a spreadsheet, other methods of transferring information may also be used.

  Use of this particular embodiment begins when the trader enters or pastes values into the spreadsheet 1100. For example, the value may be a specific price that the trader desires to monitor, or it may be a dynamic price that includes an added calculation. The indicator is not limited to use with price, but may instead be used for any item of interest on the trader's display. In the price example, once the price is entered into the spreadsheet, the trader copies the desired price cell (s) from the spreadsheet and displays the screen dynamics as illustrated in FIG. 11A. The cell (s) may be pasted to one of the indicator columns 1102. When pasting the cell (s) into the dynamic indicator column, the display marker, also referred to as the dynamic indicator 1104, corresponds to the cell in the indicator column 1102 that corresponds to the price calculated in the spreadsheet or other software. Highlight.

  The marker may be anything suitable to serve as an indicator for a trader, including, for example, graphic symbols and colors. Thus, although FIG. 11A shows the entire highlighted cell 1104, the marker may be highlighted or based on a colored background such as a foreground, background, border, or part of the cell. . It is not necessary for the dynamic indicator to occupy the entire cell. For example, in an example where the trading interface includes a static price scale and the price scale is concatenated, it may be desirable to place a dynamic indicator at a location in a cell corresponding to a particular price. In addition, the marker may mark a range of prices. The marker type is preferably selectable by the user.

  Preferably, a link is established from the pasted cell to the spreadsheet 1100 from which the cell (s) are copied. The link gives the trader the ability to change the value copied in the spreadsheet 1100 and cause an associated change in the pasted value of the dynamic indicator column 1102. In one embodiment, this may be a two-way link between the trading interface and third party software, or market data from a trading window, such as TLP or any other item of interest, as a spreadsheet or other May link to third party software. Any suitable type of data exchange protocol may be used to embed information from the third party software or to link the dynamic indicator to the third party software. For example, Microsoft OLE 2.0 may be used to perform these functions when using a Microsoft Windows application as third-party software. In the preferred embodiment, Microsoft OLE is leveraged to provide links between cells and dynamic indicators from the Microsoft EXCEL spreadsheet. In general, data exchange protocols, particularly link and embedding techniques, are well known to those skilled in the art.

  The meaning of the affixed dynamic indicator and whether there is a dynamic calculation added is preferably an individual trader's decision. For example, a trader may wish to represent “fair value analysis” (average price) in a dynamic indicator. This would calculate the average price at which a particular market item was sold throughout the day. The trader copies the cell with the added calculation and pastes it into the dynamic display sequence. As the average price fluctuates with each newly adapted amount, the dynamic indicator will move up and down the indicator column with the appropriate price. When the indicator moves to a price that is visible on the screen, the trader can see a visual indicator of the “fair value” price, and the trader chooses to enter the amount if so desired Will be able to. Although illustrated with respect to “fair value” prices, it should be understood that any calculation may be used instead.

  As noted above, the dynamic indicator may only be displayed on a portion of the cell. The dynamic indicator may be highlighted, for example, in a different color from the rest of the cell or surrounding cells, or may be displayed in a time-varying color to produce a flashing effect. The dynamic indicator may be presented as a highlighted line or a colored line in the cell. The portion of the cell in which the dynamic indicator is displayed may be selected to convey additional information such as, for example, a price that falls between prices on a static price scale when price consolidation is utilized. FIG. 11B depicts a dynamic indicator column 1102 where the dynamic indicator is displayed by highlighting only a portion of the cell 1110.

  A dynamic indicator allows the trader to specify, for example, the trader's own price movement, regardless of whether those movements are of the previous sale price, “fair value” or any other designated item of interest. This gives the trader an advantage in that it gives them the ability to monitor By ascertaining the visible dynamic indicator associated with the trader's designated item of interest, the trader has a better opportunity to enter the quantity at the desired price. In addition, the trader can paste dynamic indicators while continuing to enter other quantities throughout the trading session, and the indicators continue to update while the session is open. Thus, the trader will notice that the desired price as indicated by the indicator is long and usable in the market after the trader first copies and pastes the indicator. Furthermore, the dynamic indicator may reduce the time it takes for the user to analyze the market data by giving the user a visual cue.

The display of the highlighted dynamic indicator is displayed in the purchase and / or sales dynamic indicator column on the display, although in the example where a color is used, the color is selected by the trader, for example through the properties window. The indicator can be moved to various places on the display. Of course, multiple dynamic indicators may be displayed in any dynamic indicator column. In one embodiment utilizing the MD_TRADER ™ style display, the dynamic indicator columns are displayed by default to the left and right of the purchase volume column and the sales volume column, respectively, as illustrated in FIG. 11A. However, it is not necessary that the entire column, row, or other display element be dedicated to displaying the dynamic indicator. The dynamic indicator may instead be applied to the display on a cell-by-cell basis or may overlay other displayed information.

Out of Range Indicator According to a preferred embodiment, a graphic user interface for a trading application provides an indication that an item of interest is outside the viewable range of the display. The trading application may be X_TRADER® referenced above or any other commercial product adapted as described in this section. Also preferably, the out-of-range indicator provides the user with the ability to move the display up and down so that the user can display the item (s) of interest outside the viewable area. Examples of items of interest include, but are not limited to, user operational orders such as quantity and price and market depth information.

  In some embodiments, the out-of-range indicator is an arrow or similar pointing icon that indicates to the user that the item of interest is outside the viewable region, so that the viewable region displays the item of interest. It further shows the direction that needs to be moved. Preferably, the viewable area will scroll or jump to an item of interest when the user clicks on the pointing icon or otherwise activates the pointing icon. Each time an out-of-range indicator is used, the display may move to the closest item of interest outside the viewable area. As an alternative to jumping to the next item of interest, the display may move by row, column, price, or jump to a new level based on the selected item of interest.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 12A, the quantity is input at sales prices such as 109225, 109250, 109400, etc. (visible on the display). 109525 is the second highest price at which the quantity is entered, but if that quantity exceeds the viewable area, the trader will use this example to move the display up so that the quantity is visible The out-of-range indicator depicted as the “Up Arrow” 1200 function can be used. Each subsequent use of the “Up Arrow” 1200 function will display the next highest price the quantity is entered into the market.

  As this example continues, the same general principles apply when utilizing the “down arrow” 1202 function. Specifically, in FIG. 12A, the amount is visible on the trading screen at the purchase price of 108975, 108875, 108825, and the like. If 108650 is the next lowest purchase price at which the quantity is entered into the market, the trader could use the “Down Arrow” 1202 function to display that quantity. Each subsequent use of the “Down Arrow” 1202 function displays the next lowest purchase price with the quantity entered into the market.

  In this example, by using an out-of-range indicator (eg, 1200, 1202) indicating an out-of-range market volume, the trader can essentially display the entire depth of the market offered by the exchange. The display of the entire depth of the market may be limited, for example, by the user's preference for the size of the user's display screen or the amount of market information displayed at any given time. Because of these constraints, there may be items of interest such as market depth and operational orders that the user cannot see. The out-of-range indicator not only warns the user of the presence of out-of-range items of interest, but all such information is visible via, for example, the “Up Arrow” 1200 and “Down Arrow” 1202 functions. Also make sure.

  When an item of interest goes out of view, the trading application preferably displays cells with arrows pointing up or down, respectively, for example at the top and / or bottom of the column related to the item of interest. Generate. Arrow cells are preferably enabled only when items of interest, such as quantities entered into the market, are outside the viewable area. If the item of interest does not fall outside the viewable area, in one embodiment of the invention, the cell may be inactive and presented on the display with no solid arrows. As an alternative to using buttons with pointing icons, the preferred embodiment allows a user to scroll market data in the desired direction using a mouse wheel or other user input device.

  As noted above, the out-of-range indicator may alternatively or additionally be used to alert the user of out-of-range operational orders. In this example, each time the indicator is used, the display moves to the user's next operational order, preferably in a market that is outside the viewable area. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 12B, the trader enters quantities at sales prices or sell order prices of 109200, 109250, and 109300, as evidenced by the operational quantities present in the operational quantity column (visible on the display). . 109550 is the next highest price for the trader whose quantity is entered, but if that quantity exceeds the viewable area, the trader will use an indicator, in this example, to move up the display so that the quantity appears. Then, the “up sell order arrow” 1204 function can be used. Each subsequent use of the “Up Sell Order Arrow” 1204 function displays the next highest bid price for the trader whose quantity is entered into the market. As described above, the display may instead move by row, column, price, or jump to a new level based on the item of interest selected.

  The same general principles apply for operational purchase orders by utilizing the “Down Buy Order Arrow” 1206 function. For example, in FIG. 11B, the trader can enter a quantity on the trading screen with a purchase price of 109025, 109000, 108975, 108875, and 108825, ie, a buy order price, and is visible. If 108650 is the next lowest buy order value for that trader whose quantity is entered into the market, the trader could use the “Down Buy Order Arrow” 1206 to display that quantity. Each subsequent use of the “Down Buy Order Arrow” 1206 function displays the next lowest buy order price for that trader that the trader has entered into the market. Regardless of which arrow is used, the screen moves to the amount entered by the trader into the market.

By using out-of-range indicators (eg, 1200, 1202, 1204, and 1206), traders may preferably display information regarding all of their operational orders. This indicator ensures that all of the user's operational orders appear through the functions of “Up Sell Order Arrow”, “Up Buy Order Arrow”, “Down Sell Order Arrow”, and “Down Buy Order Arrow” Reducing the chances of lost or forgotten opportunities or exposure. The pointing icon or arrow button described above may be located at the top and / or bottom of any column of interest, or to the left and / or right of any row of interest, for example outside the viewable range. Data that falls outside the visible range, including Other uses of the out-of-range indicator will become apparent to those skilled in the art after reading this detailed description. Although described above with reference to pointing icons and / or arrow buttons, any type of indicator may be used instead, as long as it can indicate to the user that there is information outside the viewable range.

“Thermometer” Indicator In accordance with a preferred embodiment, the trading application provides the user with a display depicting the volume of purchase and sales volume in a logical and dynamic manner relative to each other. The trading application may be X_TRADER® referred to above or any other commercially available product adapted as described in this section. In one embodiment advantageously used in trading applications that display prices along the vertical axis, such as X_TRADER®, a “thermometer” indicator, as illustrated in FIGS. 13A and 13B, One or more narrow vertical display columns 1300, 1302 ("thermometers") located proximate to the column of quantities are generated. The thermometers 1300 and 1302 may or may not be associated with a numerical display of the total number of buy and sell orders in the market for a particular market product. When there is an amount available in the market, the thermometers 1300, 1302 are preferably shaded to match the percentage of purchase versus sales in the market. For example, if the market purchase and sales volume are equal, meaning that 50% of the volume is the purchase volume and 50% is the sales volume, both thermometers 1300 and 1302 are shown in FIG. 13A. As shown, it is shaded 50%. In an alternative embodiment, the thermometer indicator may represent the relationship between two items of interest to the user. Although a vertical bar is shown in the illustration, it should be understood that any visual indicator may be used instead as long as the indicator can convey information appropriate for the user.

  Preferably, these thermometer columns are adjustable in that the user may move the thermometer columns to various locations on the display as determined by logic or user preference. One preferred location when the thermometer indicator must represent the volume of purchase volume with respect to the volume of sales volume is immediately to the left of the purchase volume column and to the right of the sales volume column. In this embodiment, the thermometer display may begin at the midpoint of the price displayed on the screen. For example, in FIGS. 13A and 13B, the midpoint is between prices 90 and 85. The purchase quantity thermometer drops from the midpoint to the lowest price (45) displayed on the screen, and the sales quantity thermometer extends to the highest price displayed (130).

  As noted above, the two thermometers represent one that can be used in the market with one thermometer for each purchase and sale. In the depicted embodiment, both thermometers extend from the midpoint price currently on the user's display. The purchased thermometer preferably reaches the lowest price displayed, while the sales thermometer preferably extends to the highest price displayed. The purchase quantity thermometer descends from the top of the thermometer as the purchase percentage increases. The sales volume thermometer rises from the bottom of the thermometer as the sales volume percentage increases. If either the purchase volume or sales volume is greater than the other, the thermometer reflects this difference based on the displayed volume. For example, FIG. 13B reflects a scenario where 95% of the market volume is the purchase volume and 5% of the market volume is the sales volume. Accordingly, the purchased thermometer 1304 is shaded much more than the sales thermometer 1306 to represent the disparity. Although described with reference to a thermometer indicator, any type of graphic indicator may be used instead to present information about the item of interest to the user. An alternative to displaying a graphic indicator such as a thermometer is to express the market depth, such as total sales volume and total purchase volume, numerically or as a percentage or ratio between purchases and sales.

The thermometer indicator adds to the trader by showing the difference between purchase volume and sales volume in the market, thereby providing the trader with a tool to help decide whether to enter an order to buy or sell . For example, if the market has a higher percentage purchase volume, more traders would like to buy, whereas if the market had a higher percentage sales volume, more traders would like to sell there is a possibility. Therefore, the trader infers that with a higher percentage purchase volume in the market, once the trader enters such a sales order, the trader's sales order may have a higher probability of being met at the desired price. Can do. If the sales percentage is higher in the market, the trader may have a higher probability that the purchase order for the trader will be fulfilled at the desired price.

Automatic Scalper In accordance with another preferred embodiment, the trading application provides a way to automatically enter reverse trade orders. Preferably, the trading application is X_TRADER® using an MD_TRADER ™ style display. Scalping is a well-known term for trading commodity products, which refers to a trading technique in which a trader buys and sells for a relatively small gain in a short period of time. In this embodiment, the trading application facilitates scalping by providing an automatic order entry mechanism to the user, an embodiment of which is further described below. Preferably, automatic scalping is activated based on user input, such as simultaneously pressing a control key on a user mouse and a scroll wheel to operate a set of indicator bars in the shape of a horizontal line. Alternatively, other activation mechanisms can be used, including, for example, using a dialog box generated by a trading application or by activating a scalping icon displayed in the user interface.

  In this embodiment where mouse input is used to position parallel horizontal lines, the indicator bar will automatically enter the purchase and sales volume when a similar such amount is manually entered and responded. Determine the price range you will get. More specifically, this function automatically inputs the sales amount when the purchase amount manually input by the trader is accepted. Similarly, this function automatically enters the purchase amount when the sales amount manually entered by the trader is accepted. The indicator bar moves relative to a static scale or axis that represents the price. In the preferred embodiment, the indicator bar spans the purchase column, the sales column, and the price column, which start together at the center point of the price displayed on the trader's display screen. In FIG. 14A, the midpoint 1400 is between 90 and 85 prices. As the trader enables this embodiment and scrolls the wheel up on the trader's mouse, the indicator moves further away, leaving more price within the indicator bar 1402 range. As the trader scrolls down the wheel, the indicator bars move closer together (and closer to the midpoint), reducing the number of prices in the indicator column as shown in FIG. 14B.

  The order entered automatically is preferably the same amount as the previous purchase or sale filling of the trader. Furthermore, automatically entered orders are entered at a specific price or prices within the indicator bar, depending on the trader's preferences and / or practices. In one embodiment, the automatically entered order has the lowest price beyond the in-market within the indicator bar for sell orders and the lowest price within the indicator bar for buy orders. It is. Alternatively, the automatically entered order may be one or more prices calculated according to any algorithm. For example, the quantity ordered can be spread evenly between prices above the in-place market (in the case of a sell order) or below the in-place market (in the case of a buy order) and can be within the indicator bar. The preferred embodiment is not limited to a particular technique for determining one or more prices at which automatic orders are entered. In the preferred embodiment, the user sets a rule on how exactly one or more double orders are sent (regardless of the best price or some other price). Can be set.

  For example, and as illustrated in FIG. 14A, indicator bar 1402 is set at the highest price at 110 and the lowest price at 65. The on-site market has a purchase price of 100 and a sales price of 105, as indicated by the black line. When a trader using an automated scalper enters an amount in the purchase column and the amount is met, in one embodiment, the system places the sale column within the indicator bar at the lowest price beyond the on-site market. A double amount is automatically entered, which in this example would be a selling price of 105.

  A trader's position may be defined as the difference between the total amount of market products purchased and the amount of market products sold, and a trader is sold a long position when the amount purchased is greater than the amount sold. A short position is considered when the quantity is greater than the quantity purchased. The more the trader owns, the longer the position of the trader will be. Conversely, the more volume a trader sells, the shorter the position of the trader will be. It may be desirable to have a non-long or short position called the closed position at the end of a daily trading session. When the purchase amount entered by the trader into the market is met, thus giving the trader a long position, when activated by the user, the system closes the position of the trader when responded Can be entered automatically. Similarly, when the sales volume entered by the trader into the market is met, the system may automatically enter a double purchase volume that closes the position of the trader when accepted. The automatic scalper automatically and preferably immediately closes the position of the trader when responding and enters a double purchase or sales volume that prevents the trader from having a long or short position for a long period of time. .

In an alternative embodiment, the automatic scalper embodiment may be used to set one range, for example using an indicator bar, for the purchase amount and another range for the sales amount at the same time. In this embodiment, the automatic scalper automatically quotes both sides (purchase and sale) within the range determined by the user. In another alternative embodiment, multiple automatic scalping ranges may be active in a single trading window using various sets of indicator bars. For this embodiment, the different ranges can be distinguished, for example, by using different colors for different sets of indicator bars.

Price Level Validity Check In accordance with another preferred embodiment, the trading application may enter orders for the market at a price that is a specified number of ticks away from the last trading price (LTP) or at a specified percentage that is different from the LTP. Is provided with a capability called price level validity checking ("PLRC"). Any tick can be used, but generally in this detailed description the price value set by the exchange for each market item (eg $ .01, $ .05, $ .10 or any other value) Used as the minimum variation. The trading application may be X_TRADER® as described above, or any other commercial product adapted as described in this section. The PLRC can be enabled and configured by either a user such as a trader or an administrator. In the case of a system where the administrator enables the PLRC, the PLRC may be applied uniformly to all client terminals on the network, or it may be adjusted on a case-by-case basis, eg taking into account the experience level of the trader Put in.

  The PLRC may preferably be enabled on a market commodity basis. For example, in FIG. 15A, the trader has entered a value of 5 to indicate the maximum number of ticks from the LTP, where the trader is ready to enter an order into the market. As shown in FIG. 15B, the marketed market commodity market has a tick value of 5. Thus, 90, 85, 80, 75, 70 and / or 65 if a trader chooses to sell a commodity product, as determined by a 90 LTP, 5 tick increment of 5 and a PLRC value of 5. You can enter orders by price. As shown in FIG. 15B, 90 is the previous sale price, and the prices 85, 80, 75, 70, and 65 are sales prices that are less than or equal to 5 ticks away from the LTP. . If a trader attempts to sell an amount at a price of 60 or less, the trader will be restricted from doing so because the price exceeds the range allowed by the trader's PLRC value. The same trader would be able to purchase market items at a price of 90, 95, 100, 105, 110 and / or 115. Each of these prices is within the range of 5 LTP ticks (PLRC value). If a trader attempts to purchase an amount at a price of 120 or more, the trader will be restricted from doing so because the price exceeds the range allowed by the trader's PLRC value. Instead, the PLRC function allows a trader or administrator to enter a percentage instead of a tick number to specify the maximum deviation from the LTP that the user is allowed to enter orders into the market. Can do.

  In an alternative embodiment, a trading application may provide a PLRC function with adjusted instability. In this embodiment, the PLRC dynamically increases or decreases the number of ticks (or percentage) away from the LTP that the user may enter orders within. The increase or decrease that can be set by the user or system administrator is preferably based on instability. For example, the trader may configure the trading application to dynamically increase the PLRC by a specified amount when the instability exceeds a specified amount.

  Inclusion of the PLRC function limits the possibility that a trader will be able to meet operational volumes at a less desirable price. The in-place market is those prices that are available in the market, considered the best purchase and sale prices available. The best purchase price is the highest purchase price with quantity in the market, while the best sale price is the lowest sale price with quantity in the market. In general, LTP is or is close to the in-situ market. LTP is used as the central price at which the PLRC starts, and quantities can be entered at a limited number of price levels above or below that LTP level.

In a preferred embodiment where the trading application is X_TRADER®, the PLRC is preferably shown in FIG. 15B, but the “price level validity check” option box 1500 has been checked. This is enabled through the “Options” display by entering a value in the adjacent box 1502 and specifying the number of ticks that the amount can be met beyond the previous sale price value. PLRC is described in terms of demarcating the acceptable price of the operational volume, but is cited to constrain many other trading activities, such as the volume associated with any order, or by any individual user The same technique may be used to limit the total amount. The implementation of these variations is similar to the implementation of the PLRC described above, and those skilled in the art can implement variations based on the detailed description.

Group Positioning and Automatic Grid Positioning According to another preferred embodiment, the trading application may rearrange items of interest within the trading interface. In one embodiment, the trading application tracks market activity by automatically centering the in-place market or last trade price ("LTP") on the display, for example with respect to a static axis or price scale. Preferably, any other item of interest in the trading interface can serve as a basis for positioning information within the display.

  The trading application is preferably X_TRADER® using the MD_TRADER ™ style display. In the preferred embodiment, the LTP is displayed in the LTP column and is indicated by the highlighted cell immediately next to the price cell corresponding to the most recently responded quantity. The LTP cell preferably also includes an indication of the amount of recent filling. The on-site market is indicated by a line that spans both the purchase and sales columns, with the highest purchase price currently in quantity in the market (best purchase price) and the lowest sale price currently in quantity in the market (best sale price). It is arranged between.

  Preferably, the user can specify any item of interest as a basis for the positioning function so that, during positioning, the item of interest is moved to a predetermined position on the user's display. Automatic positioning can be triggered by a timer or by monitoring the movement of the item (s) of interest around the display. Two items of interest to many traders are the in-place market and LTP. Thus, in one embodiment, the user can select one of these items for automatic relocation. When either the highlighted LTP cell or the in-market line is outside the viewable area of the trader's display, or is more than a predetermined distance from the position on the display, the LTP cell or in-market line is on the display Will automatically be placed in place. In a preferred embodiment, the automatic positioning parameters may be selected by the user from an “Options” display. The user can, for example, when the LTP is a specified number of cells from the top or bottom of the trader's display screen, or when the on-site market is a specified number of cells from the top or bottom of the trader's display screen. , One can choose whether to reposition the display after a specified number of seconds.

  Furthermore, a trading application may present multiple trading windows to the user simultaneously. In accordance with a preferred embodiment, the automatic positioning tool can be applied globally to any number of open trading windows. Preferably, dialog boxes or menu items can be used to allow the user to group or link any number of trading windows for rearrangement. In accordance with an embodiment, at least one of the linked trading windows becomes the master and the other linked trading window (s) are relocated whenever the master trading window is relocated. For example, one of the trading windows may be designated by the user as a master trading window by selecting “Place All” or any similar instruction from a menu or dialog box. This can have the effect of rearranging all open trading windows when the master trading window is rearranged. The user may choose to have one or more trading windows ignore the relocation command by selecting “Ignore” or any similar instruction from a menu or dialog box. This group relocation function can be used in conjunction with an automatic relocation tool or manual relocation (such as by clicking on the center mouse button or by using any input device). Other techniques for grouping trading windows will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon reviewing this detailed description.

  In a preferred embodiment, the positioning tool serves to center items of interest (such as LTP or in-place market) on the display. As illustrated in FIG. 16A, the LTP is displayed in the LTP column 1602 and is indicated by the highlighted cell 1600 (its color may be specified by the trader). This cell 1600 is displayed next to the price cell 1604 corresponding to the recently accepted quantity. The in-place market is indicated by a solid line across both the purchase column 1608 and the sales column 1610, and is between the highest purchase price that is in the current market and the lowest sale price that is in the current market. FIG. 16B is a display showing how the trader can select and operate the automatic grid centering function. Although shown in FIGS. 16A and 16B as applied to a scrolling vertical scale, it should be understood that the preferred embodiment is not so limited. Rather, it should be understood that automatic positioning can be applied regardless of the direction or number of dimensions of movement in which information is displayed.

As quantities are entered and accepted in the marketplace, the LTP and on-site markets change to show the price of the previous fill quantity and the latest best purchase price and sales price. In an unstable market, many quantities can be accommodated in a relatively short period of time, causing continuous fluctuations in the LTP and the in-place market. LTP and on-site market are two indicators that a trader can use to understand at what price other traders think market products are most desirable. Traders can use automatic positioning to always have a visual reference of where the market is traded, increasing the likelihood of entering quantities and making those quantities meet at a desired price. In addition, automatic positioning can be used with manual positioning. In other words, it is preferred that enabling automatic positioning does not exclude the user from manually rearranging the display.

Highlighting the midpoint of the last relocation According to a preferred embodiment, the trader may highlight the midpoint of the price and / or quantity entered into the market at the time of the last relocation event. Preferably, the relocation event centers the display around the in-place market, where the in-place market is the highest purchase price, the lowest purchase price, or alternatively In addition, the relocation event may center the display at any price and / or quantity if desired. In addition, relocation events need not be centered on a specific price, but can ensure that a specific price, or other item of interest, is placed at a predetermined location or range of locations on the display. .

  In a preferred embodiment, the midpoint may be indicated by a thick line across the display screen columns, or in another embodiment the midpoint may be indicated by a color, arrow, text, or the like. Preferably, the exact location of the midpoint line is the number of price rows displayed between the best buy price row and the best sell price row (amount is available) during the last recentering event. Depends on. Alternatively, the position of the midpoint row may depend on the quantity of some or all of the buy and sell orders, or may depend on a combination of the price and quantity of some or all of the buy and sell orders. In yet another embodiment, a bold line representing a particular price level may be displayed in association with any item of interest to the user, thereby adjusting the content of the trading interface along the user's preferred range.

  Needless to say, markers other than lines could be used instead. For example, as in many of the previous embodiments, the marker can be highlighted and a color or graphic indicator is placed on the display at the desired location. In accordance with this embodiment, the trader can benefit from a visual indication of the discrepancy between the best bid price and the ask price in the current market.

  According to the preferred embodiment, when the number of price lines between the best bid price line (where the quantity is entered) and the best sell price line is an even number (or zero), the middle dotted line is between These are the highest purchase (bid) price and lowest sale (sell) price displayed in the window. For example, in FIG. 19A, the best bid price is 75 and the best sell price is 100. In this example, the product display is traded in 5 incremental ticks. As a result, the prices displayed between the best bid price and the best ask price are 80, 85, 90 and 95. Since the total number of prices between the best bid and the best ask price is an even number, the middle dotted line 1800 is displayed between the highest bid price of 85 and the lowest bid price of 90. Alternatively, other methods can be used to determine the midpoint of even rows, cells or columns.

  Further, according to the preferred embodiment, if the number of price rows between the best bid price (where the quantity is entered) and the best bid price is an odd number, the middle dotted line indicates the best bid price and the best sell price. Is displayed at the top of the cell, which means the middle price value of the price displayed during. For example, in FIG. 19B, the best bid price is 85 and the best sell price is 105. The display of the product being traded ticks in increments of 5. As a result, the prices displayed between the best bid and the best bid are 90, 95 and 100. Since the total number of prices between the best bid price and the best bid price is odd, the middle dotted line because 95 means the middle price value of the price displayed between the best bid price and the best bid price 1902 is displayed at the top of the price line of 95. It should be understood that the mid-dotted line 1902 can be displayed at the bottom or middle of the price line of 95 to indicate the mid-price value. Alternatively, other methods may be used to determine the midpoint of an odd number of rows, cells or columns.

  Although the preferred embodiment utilizes an MD_TRADER ™ -style display with a vertical static price axis or scale, this trading tool uses market information such as bids, bids and / or operational orders to display a static scale of prices. Or it can be utilized with any display that is displayed in relation to the axis. There is no need for the scale or axis to be longitudinal or even two-dimensional. Rather, the market information can be displayed horizontally, diagonally, in n dimensions, or in any other manner.

The display of the mid-point line, an example of which is illustrated in FIG. 19C, shows the “Options” display by clicking on the box 1906 immediately to the left of the “Highlight mid-point of previous re-centering” option. Can be effective through. Other techniques known to those skilled in the art such as selecting this tool from a menu may be used instead. In addition, highlighting midpoints can be applied to a wide variety of applications where a trader desires to highlight midpoints corresponding to price and / or quantity, or any other item of interest. .

Drag and drop of operational quantities According to another preferred embodiment, a trading application allows a trader to drag and drop operational quantities from one price level to another price level on a static price scale or axis. It becomes possible to change the operational order. The trading application is preferably X_TRADER® using the MD_TRADER ™ style display. When using the MD_TRADER ™ style display to drag and drop operational orders, in one embodiment, the trader clicks on an active cell in the operational volume column. As a result, the drag and drop function is activated, and the trader can operate the cell by moving the cell on the trading screen of the trader. Such an operation is generally called “dragging” selected data. Prior to releasing the mouse button, the trader drags the operational order by moving the cursor to a new cell in the operational volume column. The trader then releases, or “drops” the data to a new cell. In the preferred embodiment, the ability to drag and drop operational orders as described herein is an option that can be turned on or off by the user for each individual trading window.

  At the time the data is dropped, the past quantity is deleted from the original price and a new quantity can be entered at the price associated with the cell where the new operational quantity was dropped. The amount displayed in either the purchase column or the sales column corresponding to the trader's operation amount also moves to the newly selected price level when the drag-and-drop function is executed. Any technique may be used to change the user's operational order. For example, instead of causing the deletion of an existing operational order and the entry of a new operational order, a single cancellation and exchange as known to those skilled in the art can be used to modify a user's operational order.

  The ability to drag and drop operational quantities, as displayed in the operational quantity column, can be used by traders where such quantities are not satisfied with the current price entered in the market. Traders are given the ability to change the price level at which a trader's quantity is entered without having to delete and re-enter the quantity, thus saving valuable time by simply dragging and dropping that quantity. Become.

  Preferably, the drag-and-drop feature allows the trader to move the entire operational volume of a single cell from one cell in the operational volume column to another when the quantity is actually composed of multiple orders. become. For example, if the trader's operational volume is 30 at a price of 102.54 (1700) as illustrated in FIG. 17, that volume may actually consist of orders for 3 separate 10 lots, A lot consists of multiple quantities that are traded together. If the trader drags and drops its operational quantity to a price of 102.57, the total quantity of 30 (all three lots) will move in conjunction with the new price level. The quantities are entered separately, but once entered, they are treated as a united whole.

  The ability to drag and drop the entire quantity is advantageous to the trader in that the trader does not need to constantly change the setting of the quantity of the trader, regardless of the number of orders associated with that quantity. Also, the trader does not need to repeat the drag and drop operation for each order. For example, a trader may be buying and selling in an amount of 10, so every time the trader enters an amount into the market, the trader enters an order of 10 lots. If the trader wants to input a quantity of 30, the trader can enter 3 separate 10 lot orders in this way, either by changing the quantity setting or clicking the appropriate cell 3 times. can do. If a trader chooses to drag and drop operational quantities from one price level to another, all operational quantities associated with the cell and price level where the drag and drop is performed are moved to the new price level. . As a result, traders do not need to perform three separate drag and drop operations, saving valuable time and helping to ensure that quantities are entered and accepted at their intended price.

  The trader's operational quantity is displayed in the operational quantity column in the cell corresponding to the price at which the quantity is entered. The trader's operational quantity display remains visible on the trading screen until the entered quantity is fully accepted, at which point the particular operational quantity display is either removed from the operational quantity column or the order is Canceled or deleted. In one embodiment of the present invention, the cell in which the operational amount is displayed includes “W” followed by a value indicating the amount currently in operation in the market. The cell also includes “B” or “S” followed by a value indicating how much of the original operational purchase or sales volume was purchased or sold. Although described with respect to an operational amount column, embodiments are not limited to trading interfaces that display operational amounts in the column; rather, the teachings in this section may be applied to any type of indication of operational amounts.

  In the preferred embodiment of drag and drop, nothing changes with respect to the user's pending operational orders until the user releases the mouse button, keypad or other input device over the desired location on the trading interface. This feature allows the user to maintain his place in the trading queue for the order originally entered. In an alternative embodiment, a new order is entered as soon as the mouse icon stops at the appropriate area of the trading interface.

  Another alternative embodiment allows for drag and drop of operational quantities once price linking is enabled. Any suitable algorithm may be used to allocate new order (s) over the concatenated price range. In this embodiment, preferably the user can select the desired allocation algorithm, such as by using a dialog box. For example, all “dropped” orders are entered at one price, such as the price shown on the consolidation scale, or the operational volume is equal in the scope associated with the location where the order is dropped Or each operational quantity can be moved incrementally on a consolidated price scale between its original position and the position where the order is dropped.

Yet another alternative provides the user with the ability to allow automatic correction of the amount of orders entered at the location where operational orders are dropped. For example, as noted above, an operational order may remain in operation until an input device (eg, a mouse button) is released. In this case, the operational order can be fulfilled or partially fulfilled during the drag and drop process. Preferably, the user may choose to generate an “dropped” order in this situation, for example through a dialog box. For example, if a production order is accepted during drag and drop, the user may wish that no new order is entered at the new price. Also, if the operational amount is partially met, the user may prefer to input only the remaining amount at a new price. In this way, “dropped” orders can be automatically modified according to user preferences.

Average price of operational volume In accordance with the preferred embodiment, the display shows the average price of trader's operational purchase and sales volume entered in the market. The trader's operational volume represents the unaccepted amount of all orders that have been entered by the trader but not yet accepted in the market. Preferably, the display shows the average price of the total operational purchase volume and the average price of the total operational sales volume of the specific market products being bought and sold, and the specific traders who have entered those quantities. In this embodiment, the average operational price is displayed using a graphic indicator associated with the static price scale or axis, for example, when highlighting, color, or such scale or axis is displayed. obtain. The display may or may not include the actual value of the average price.

  In an alternative embodiment, the price distribution of the trader's operational purchase volume and / or sales volume entered into the market is displayed. In this alternative embodiment, the average price may also be displayed in or around the displayed price distribution. The average price and / or price distribution may be displayed in text format, may be displayed in color format (eg, using color indicators), and may be displayed in graphic format (eg, using text and colors). Good also needs to be understood.

  For example, FIG. 18 shows a screen for a trader having two operational purchases at a market price of 96, eight operational purchases at a price of 95, and two operational purchases at a price of 94 (1800). Show. Preferably, the average price of those operational purchases is calculated by dividing the price of the operational volume from the total volume, and the average is displayed as described below. In a preferred embodiment, the average price of operational purchases is calculated as follows (although the average price may be calculated using other known types of statistics and / or numerical analysis).

Total price of operation purchase amount / total purchase amount = average price of operation purchase amount ((2 × 96) + (8 × 95) + (2 × 94)) / (2 + 8 + 2) = 95
(192 + 760 + 188) / 12 = 95
1140/12 = 94
Preferably, the same calculation is used to determine the average price of operational sales. Using the example from the previous example, FIG. 18 shows four separate operational sales volumes at a market price of 101, two operational sales volumes at a price of 100, and four operational sales volumes at a price of 99 (1802). Also displays a screen for the traders you have. The average price of operational sales is displayed as described herein, and the price is calculated as follows.

Total price of operation sales / total sales = average price of operation sales ((4 × 101) + (2 × 100) + (4 × 99)) / (4 + 2 + 4) = 100
(404 + 200 + 396) / 10 = 100
3005/10 = 100
Preferably, the calculation of the average price of the operation amount is a contract unit, which means that a different average price is calculated and displayed for each different market product for which the trader inputs the operation amount.

  Preferably, the display of the average price and / or price distribution of the trader's operational purchase and sales volume compares the average price of the trader entered into the market for the commodity product with all other current purchases and sales volume. Can be used to This feature benefits the trader by trying to ensure that the trader is buying and selling at the most desirable price.

In the preferred embodiment, the display of the average price of the trader's operational volume is displayed as two separate cells in the display—one displaying the average purchase price 1804 of the trader's operational volume and the other the operational purchase of the trader. The other average selling price 1806 of the quantity is displayed. In the preferred embodiment, the average purchase price is displayed at the bottom of the operational volume column and the average selling price 1806 is displayed at the top of the column as illustrated in FIG. Further, in the preferred embodiment, the price of the average selling price cell is highlighted in red and the price of the average buying price cell is highlighted in blue. However, it is understood that the average sale price and average purchase price can be displayed anywhere on the screen, and the average sale price and average purchase price can be displayed in text, any color, both text and color, etc. There is a need.

Blank Spot Coloring According to a preferred embodiment, the cells in the purchase and sales columns of the display corresponding to the prices for which no quantity is entered into the market are visually compared to those cells where such quantities are entered. Differentiated. Purchase price levels and sales price levels without corresponding quantities are referred to as “blank spots” 2000, and in the preferred embodiment, a better visual of where the market is traded, as illustrated in FIG. 20A. As a means for providing a simple expression, the cells are displayed with shading different from the dense cells. The sky blue spot 2000 may be displayed with a lighter or darker shade than a dense cell, with a different color, or with a different texture, such as shading from those cells with an input amount. Preferably, as new quantities are entered into the market and existing quantities are accepted and removed from the market, the sky blue spot 2000 changes accordingly. In addition, it is preferable that the user can select a method for displaying sky blue spots.

  According to one embodiment, the visual difference between a purchased cell that contains a quantity and a cell that sells and a cell that does not contain a quantity further allows the trader to quickly recognize whether the quantity is available in the market at a particular price. It can have an advantage in that it becomes easier. Thus, traders interested in purchase quantities have an expanded display that allows such quantities to be used, and traders interested in sales quantities can further identify where other traders sell market products. Can be easily measured.

  In a preferred embodiment, color coding may be displayed in the displayed purchase and sales columns at a price level that is not currently available in the market. Purchase and sale cells corresponding to these price levels are displayed visually different from those cells into which such quantities are entered. Color coding can be enabled through the “Color Coded Sky Spot” field of the “Options” display shown in FIG. 20B by checking the box 2002 immediately to the left of the Sky Spot option.

In another preferred embodiment, color coding and / or shading can be applied not only to cells with no quantity, but also to cells whose quantity is below a threshold. Preferably, the threshold value may be set by a user or an administrator. In addition, the user may set different thresholds either within one trading window or across multiple trading windows. When different threshold levels are utilized, each threshold is preferably assigned a different color so that the user can quickly recognize the meaning of color coding.

Indication of the net price of the open position According to a preferred embodiment, the trader is provided with an indication of the net price of the operational buy and sell orders. Visual indicators, such as text, color, text and color combinations, or graphic indicators are used to highlight the net price of the operational buy and sell orders on the trader. The graphic indicator may take any form, including lines or colored pixels.

  In certain embodiments, it may be useful to display a net price opening position, where the position is the difference between the number of orders purchased (long positions) and the number of orders sold (short positions). Trader positions are open when the number of orders purchased or sold are not equal. If these orders are equal, the trader position is considered closed. When an order is traded on an exchange, the trader can receive multiple fillings for multiple quantities and at various price levels of the quantities that make up the order for the trader. This feature incorporates the price levels of these multiple fillings to determine the net price at which the filling occurred. The trader can then use this net price to see if a transaction from a position results in a profit, loss, or scratch (not a profit or loss).

  In order to determine the net price of the open position of the trader, this embodiment divides the total price of the corresponding quantity by the total quantity of either purchase or sale (also known as the trader's current position). For example, a trader who has purchased 10 contracts (4 in 99, 2 in 100, and 4 in 101) for a market product has a long 10 position, and the trader has to close the position of the trader. This means that 10 contracts need to be sold. The net price of the trader's accepted amount would be 100 and would be calculated as follows:

Total price of the amount accepted / current position = net price at open position (4 @ (de) 99 + 2 @ (de) 100 + 4 @ (de) 101) / 10 = 100
(396 = 200 = 404) / 10 = 100
(1000) / 10 = 100
Based on the calculation, a value of 100 is displayed as the net price of the trader at the open position of the trader. The net price may be a box 2100 per price level cell of the net price as illustrated in FIG. 21, another column for displaying the net price, a box for the entire net price level, or a feature for the net price. Display in one of a number of ways, including but not limited to typical colors. If a particular trader has a long position as a result of purchasing an amount, the additional amount purchased will recalculate the net price of the open position of the trader. Preferably, when the trader sells the quantity, the trader's position changes, but the displayed net price remains constant. Any additional purchase volume will substantially change both the position of the trader and the net price of that position, but all subsequent sales volume will only adjust the position of the trader and only so until the position is closed. Would do. When a trader starts a trading session at a short position as a result of the sales volume (s) being accepted, if such a sales volume is accepted, the subsequent sales volume of the trader will be the position and the open position of the trader. Would change both the net price. The amount purchased will not change the net price, but instead only affects the location until the location is closed. As a result, when the net price of the long position of the trader is only allowed to increase as the position increases, and when the net price of the short position is only allowed to increase as the position becomes shorter It becomes even easier to measure where (at what price) a trader needs to buy or sell.

  Traders have a visual representation of the net price of the open position of a trader when the price can fluctuate repeatedly depending on market instability, reducing the need to intelligently calculate such a price. Or gain an advantage in terms of elimination. A trader with a continuous purchase volume will have a long position and will see a display that means the net price of that long position. Any sales volume that is accepted cannot be calculated into its net price. Similarly, a trader that is available for continuous sales will have a short position and will see a display that means the net price of that short position. Any purchase amount that is accepted will not be calculated into that net price. Traders have an advantage from this feature in that the trader always has an indication of the net price of the primary position of the trader (either of the trader's purchase quantity or all of the trader's sale quantity). The trader will be given a better indication of the price level at which the trader needs to buy or sell additional quantities to make money and close the position. Instead, the average price of the trader's open position may be calculated based on both the buy and sell orders that are met.

The marker indicating the net price may be any suitable for serving as an indicator for a trader, including, for example, graphic symbols, numbers and / or colors. Thus, although FIG. 21 shows a cell 2100 surrounded by a colored, shaded or highlighted box, the marker may instead be displayed graphically or numerically somewhere in the user interface. It is not necessary for the marker to occupy the entire cell. For example, in an example where the trading interface includes a static price scale and the price scale is concatenated, it may be desirable to place a marker at a location in a cell that matches a particular price. The marker type is preferably selectable by the user.

Link Control Icon According to a preferred embodiment, a trader may link price information or other useful information by a control icon displayed to the user on the same interface used for trading. Linking price information is described in the above incorporated US patent application Ser. No. 09 / 971,087. In the embodiments described herein, the control icon is preferably presented to the user on the same screen used for the transaction so that the user can obtain market information as the control icon is adjusted. So that you can maintain your visibility.

  In the preferred embodiment, the control icon is a slide control 2200 that can be dragged from left to right or from right to left as illustrated in FIG. 22, but in an alternative embodiment, a dial that can rotate clockwise or counterclockwise. Alternatively, it can include any other control icon that can be activated through the graphic user interface of the trading application. In accordance with a preferred embodiment in which price information can be linked through the slide control 2200, when the slide control 2200 is dragged to the left edge, the display presents a number in one tick, ie an unabbreviated progression. Price information may be displayed in other ways than ticks (such as currency), depending on how each exchange provides price information and user preferences. As the slide control 2200 moves to the right, the control concatenates prices and other relevant values (eg bid / bid price, operational order, etc.), thereby gradually moving further as the slide control 2200 moves further to the right. Displays the value that will be concatenated, resulting in the display of a price that is a multiple of ticks. Preferably, each increment of the control icon can be selected by the user, such as by a dialog box or any other means known to those skilled in the art.

  Although described with respect to a vertical price scale to be linked, the preferred embodiment is not limited to linking price scales and is not limited to linking vertical display elements. Rather, any numerical sequence can be concatenated regardless of its orientation or number of dimensions. The preferred embodiment allows for user-selectable connections via icons presented on the user interface.

Concatenating price information by adjusting control icons is an advantage to the trader in that it allows a number of prices and / or related values, such as bid / bid prices, and operational orders to be displayed quickly at any time. Become. Thus, traders have not only the full amount entered at their price, but also have a greater opportunity to see the majority, but also a larger spectrum of prices entering the trader's own quantity.

CONCLUSION It should be understood that the foregoing description of the preferred, alternative, and specific examples is given by way of illustration and not limitation. For example, the features described herein could be incorporated into a wide variety of displays. Many changes and modifications within the scope of the embodiments may be made without departing from the spirit thereof, and the invention includes all forms of such changes and modifications.

Illustrate network connections between multiple exchanges and client sites. Illustrates a screen display showing the in-place market and the depth of the market for any marketed commodity. Fig. 4 illustrates an alternative display with the quantity of buy and sell orders displayed in relation to a static price scale that can be used in accordance with a preferred embodiment. Fig. 5 illustrates the display after a while, showing the movement of values when compared to Fig. 3; Figure 3 illustrates a display with parameters set to illustrate the trading method. FIG. 6 is a flow chart depicting one process of display and trade using the displays of FIGS. The previous trading volume marker is illustrated according to a preferred embodiment, and the color coding of the previous trading volume is further illustrated. FIG. 6 illustrates the transfer of multiple data feeds between an exchange and a client. FIG. 9 illustrates a confusion in one of the data feeds shown in FIG. Fig. 6 illustrates a display showing the total operational volume in the market for a user's buy and sell orders. 11A and 11B are displays showing dynamic indicators. A display showing an “arrow” cell that can be used to display items of interest outside the current display. A display showing an “arrow” cell that can be used to display items of interest outside the current display. FIG. 6 is a display showing an example of a thermometer indicator to illustrate the amount of interest in buying and selling the market. FIG. 6 is a display showing an example of a thermometer indicator to illustrate the amount of interest in buying and selling the market. 14A and 14B are displays for drawing an automatic scalper indicator. FIG. 6 is a display illustrating an embodiment in which a user can select a price level validity check function via a dialog box. FIG. 6 is a display illustrating an embodiment in which a user can select a price level validity check function via a dialog box. FIG. 6 is a display showing the previous sale price and in-place market display for use in the automatic grid centering function of the preferred embodiment. FIG. It is a display which shows how a user may select and operate an automatic grid arrangement function. FIG. 4 is a display showing the user's current operational selling volume and operational buying volume and additional criteria used to implement the “drag and drop” function of the preferred embodiment. In addition to the user's average operational purchase price and average operational selling price, this is a display showing the user's operational volume. FIG. 6 is a display showing the highlighting midpoint recentering function of the preferred embodiment. FIG. The highlighting midpoint recentering function is a sample GUI options dialog box that can be activated in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a display showing how blank spots are color coded according to one embodiment. FIG. 20B is a display of a sample GUI options dialog box that allows the user to activate the color coding function of FIG. 20A. FIG. 4 is a display showing how an average price for an open position of a trader is shown according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a display illustrating one embodiment of a connection control icon according to a preferred embodiment.

Claims (58)

A method of displaying information about market products on a graphic user interface,
Order information that is displayed in relation to an axis representing a price at least one of the items of interest that displays market information from an exchange about market products, including a plurality of items of interest on a graphical user interface And
Displaying a visual indicator associated with the axis associated with one particular item of interest from a plurality of items of interest;
Updating the display with updated market information,
Including methods.   The method of claim 1, wherein the particular item of interest is a previous trading volume value associated with a market item.   The method according to claim 2, wherein the value of the previous trading volume is displayed in relation to the previous trading price, and the previous trading price is arranged on an axis.   The method of claim 2, wherein the visual indicator comprises at least one of a numerical value, a graphic indicator, and a color-coded cell.   The method of claim 2, wherein the visual indicator provides an indication of the cumulative amount of all consecutive trades at the previous trade price.   The method of claim 2, wherein the visual indicator is color coded to provide an indication of a change in price associated with the previous trading volume as the display is updated.   The method of claim 1, wherein the visual indicator is color coded to provide additional information about the item of interest.   The visual indicator is presented in a first color on the graphic user interface as the price associated with the item of interest increases as the display is updated, and the visual indicator is displayed as the display is updated. 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the price associated with an item is presented in a second color when falling.   The item of interest is selected from the group including previous trading volume, previous trading price, in-place market, operational order, total operational volume, average price of operational order, net price of operational order, and price for which quantity is not displayed. The method according to claim 7.   The method of claim 1, wherein the visual indicator is a dynamic indicator.   The method of claim 10, wherein the graphical user interface includes at least one dynamic indicator column displayed in association with an axis.   The method of claim 11, wherein the dynamic indicator is a color-coded cell within the at least one dynamic indicator column.   The method of claim 10, wherein the dynamic indicator is embedded from a software application.   The method of claim 13, wherein the software application is a spreadsheet application, and the method further comprises linking a dynamic indicator to a cell in the spreadsheet application.   The method of claim 14, wherein the cell comprises a formula.   The method of claim 14, wherein the cell comprises a number.   15. The method of claim 14, wherein linking the dynamic indicator to a cell changes the position of the dynamic indicator when a value associated with the cell changes.   15. The method of claim 14, wherein linking the dynamic indicator to a cell causes the cell to display market information associated with the dynamic indicator.   The method of claim 1, wherein the visual indicator includes at least one cell in a graphical user interface in which an average price of an operational order is displayed.   20. The method of claim 19, wherein the at least one cell includes a first cell that displays an average operational purchase price.   21. The method of claim 20, wherein the at least one cell further comprises a second cell displaying an average operational selling price.   The method of claim 1, wherein the graphical user interface includes a plurality of cells and the visual indicator occupies at least a portion of one of the plurality of cells.   The method of claim 1, further comprising ordering market items using the graphical user interface.   A processor programmed with a set of instructions to perform the method of claim 1.   A storage medium comprising a set of instructions that, when executed by a processor, perform the method of claim 1. A method of displaying information related to market products on a graphic user interface,
Displaying in the graphic user interface market information related to market commodities from the exchange, including order information displayed in relation to the price axis;
Displaying a marker in the graphic user interface for the axis that provides an indication of the previous trading volume value of the commodity
Including methods. A method of displaying information related to market products on a graphic user interface,
Displaying market information from exchanges related to market commodities, including order information displayed in relation to a price axis on a graphical user interface;
Displaying a marker on at least one dynamic indicator associated with the software application in the graphical user interface relative to the axis;
Including methods.   28. The method of claim 27, further comprising updating information in the software application based on market information.   28. The method of claim 27, wherein the graphical user interface includes at least one dynamic indicator column associated with an axis, and a marker is displayed in the at least one dynamic indicator column.   28. The method of claim 27, wherein the dynamic indicator is associated with a specific price on an axis.   28. The method of claim 27, wherein the dynamic indicator is color coded to provide information to a user. A method of monitoring an exchange market product using a graphical user interface comprising:
Displaying market information from the exchange on market commodities, including order information displayed in relation to the price axis in a graphical user interface;
In the graphic user interface, display a marker that provides an indication of the average price of marketed product usage,
Including methods. A method for displaying information related to market products on a graphic user interface,
Display in a graphical user interface market information from an exchange related to market products, the market information including at least one bid amount and at least one bid amount displayed in relation to a price axis. Including items of interest,
Display a visual indicator associated with the axis that is associated with a specific item of interest;
Updating the display with updated market information,
Including methods. A method for displaying information related to market products on a graphic user interface,
Display information related to the in-market market for commodity products displayed in relation to the price axis;
Display at least a portion of the market depth of the market product in relation to the price axis,
Displaying markers related to market products in relation to the price axis,
Including methods. A method for displaying market information related to market products on a graphic user interface,
Display information related to multiple orders for market products,
Displaying an indicator that shows information about market products;
Including
A method, wherein information and indicators relating to a plurality of orders are displayed on a graphical user interface for one common price axis.   36. The method of claim 35, wherein the information related to the plurality of orders includes at least one operational order entered by a user.   36. The method of claim 35, further comprising ordering market items using the graphical user interface. A computer readable medium having program code recorded thereon for execution by a processor to execute a method for displaying information related to a subject of sale on a user interface, the method being included in a graphic user interface Displaying the market information from the exchanges related to the object, and including items of interest including at least one bid amount and at least one bid amount, wherein the market information is displayed in relation to the axis representing the price. Including
Display visual indicators related to the axis that relate to specific items of interest;
Including methods. A processor programmed with a set of instructions to perform a method of displaying information on a user interface regarding a market product, the method displaying information related to multiple orders for the market product;
Displaying an indicator that shows information about market products;
Including
A processor, wherein information and indicators relating to a plurality of orders are displayed in a graphical user interface for a common axis of prices. A workstation including a graphic user interface for displaying information about market products,
Means for displaying in a graphical user interface market information from an exchange related to market products, the market information including order information displayed in relation to an axis representing a price;
Means for displaying a marker in the graphic user interface for the axis;
Including workstation.   41. The workstation of claim 40, further comprising means for ordering market items.   41. The workstation of claim 40, wherein the order information includes a best bid price and a best bid price.   43. The workstation of claim 42, wherein the order information further includes a bid amount associated with a best bid price and a bid amount associated with a best bid price.   41. The workstation of claim 40, wherein the marker represents a previous trade volume value.   41. The workstation of claim 40, wherein the means for displaying the marker includes a color monitor. A method of automatically positioning information related to market products on a graphic user interface,
Receiving market information related to market commodities from an electronic exchange, the market information including a plurality of items of interest, each item of interest associated with a price;
Displaying an information display area including a plurality of positions, each position arranged to correspond to a price level along at least a portion of a static price axis;
At a first time, each indicator displays a plurality of indicators associated with the item of interest, each indicator being one of a plurality of positions in the information display area corresponding to the price level associated with the item of interest Displayed on the
Automatically repositioning the static price axis upon detection of a predetermined situation such that multiple locations in the information display area correspond to different parts of the static price axis at the second time;
Including
A method wherein each of the plurality of indicators moves to a new location in the information display area corresponding to a price level on a static price axis associated with the indicator.   49. The method of claim 46, wherein the predetermined situation includes a time period that defines a time between each automatic relocation.   Further comprising selecting a particular item of interest as a basis for relocation, wherein the step of automatically relocating displays information when a price level associated with the particular item of interest is second 47. The method of claim 46, further comprising rearranging the static price axis to correspond to a particular location in the region.   As a result of the automatic rearrangement step, the price associated with the previous sale of the market commodity corresponding to the position of the bid display area and the bid display area positioned substantially at the center of the bid display area and the bid display area The method of claim 46, wherein a level occurs.   47. A computer readable medium in which instructions for performing the method of claim 46 are stored. A method for automatically rearranging market information related to market products in a graphic user interface,
Displaying multiple items of interest including market information for a static scale in the trading interface;
Identifying at least one item from the plurality of items of interest as a basis for automatically positioning the plurality of items of interest;
Updating the display of the trading interface as market information changes, whereby one or more of the items of interest move relative to the static scale;
Automatically rearranging multiple items of interest in response to identified items of interest;
Including methods. A method for rearranging information related to a plurality of market products in a graphic user interface,
Receiving market information related to a first market commodity, the market information comprising a plurality of items of interest, each item of interest associated with a price;
Receiving market information related to a second market commodity, wherein the market information includes a plurality of items of interest, each item of interest associated with a price;
A first information display area associated with the first market commodity is displayed, and each position is arranged to correspond to a price level along at least a portion of the first static price axis at the first time. Including multiple locations;
A second information display area associated with the second market commodity is displayed, and each position is arranged to correspond to a price level along at least a portion of the second stationary price axis when the first position is the first. Including multiple locations;
Displaying a first plurality of indicators, each indicator being associated with an item of interest associated with the first market commodity, each indicator corresponding to a price level associated with the item of interest; Being displayed at one of a plurality of positions in the information display area;
Displaying a second plurality of indicators, each indicator associated with an item of interest associated with the second market commodity, each indicator corresponding to a price level associated with the item of interest Being displayed at one of a plurality of positions in the information display area;
Receiving a command to relocate one of the information display areas;
In response to the relocation command, at a second time, each of the first plurality of indicators is in a first information display area corresponding to a price level on a first static price axis associated with the indicator. The first plurality of indicators so that each of the second plurality of indicators is moved to a new position in the information display area corresponding to the price level on the second static price axis associated with the indicator. And rearranging the second static price axis,
Including methods. A method for rearranging information related to a plurality of market products in a graphic user interface,
Receiving market information related to a plurality of market products, the market information including a plurality of items of interest, each item of interest associated with a price;
Displays a first view of a plurality of indicators, each indicator representing an item of interest associated with one of the market products, each indicator displayed in relation to a first portion of one of a plurality of static price axes Each static price axis corresponds to different market products,
Linking multiple market products,
Selecting a master market item,
In response to receiving a command to relocate the master market product, the linked market status is displayed such that a second view of a plurality of indicators representing an item of interest associated with the linked market product is displayed. Repositioning each static price axis corresponding to one of the products, such that multiple indicators are displayed in various positions,
Including methods. A method for presenting information related to market products on a user interface,
Displaying information in the user interface;
Determining if a relocation event has occurred;
Determining a midpoint based on information when a relocation event occurs,
Displaying an indicator at the midpoint;
Including methods.   55. The method of claim 54, wherein the information is displayed in a grid that includes rows and columns, each row of the grid being associated with a price level on a static price axis.   The method of claim 54, wherein the midpoint corresponds to one half of the distance between the highest bid price and the lowest bid price.   55. The method of claim 54, wherein the midpoint depends on an item of interest. 55. The method of claim 54, wherein the relocation event includes centering information on a user interface around an in-place market.

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