Methods and apparatus for formulation, initial public or private offering, and secondary market trading of risk management contracts
First Claim
1. A method of conducting business comprising the steps of:
- establishing a computer-network based futures trading system electronically accessible by prospective traders;
selling, over said trading system, futures contract bundles, each contract bundle comprising at least two futures contracts;
subsequent to a sale of said futures contract bundles, accepting for resale over said trading system, any of said futures contract bundles;
reselling, over said trading system, accepted futures contract bundles;
settling said futures contract bundles; and
assessing, for at least one of said futures contract bundle sale and said futures contract resale, a transaction fee therefor.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Key features of these methods, apparatus, and designs include (but are not limited to) innovations and implementations of futures securities; the notion of Type I, Type II, and Type III futures contracts custom tailored to specific clienteles; the notion of tickets and coupons as tradable futures contracts; the notion of bifurcation; the notion of redeemable bundles; and notion of realization of the futures market on the Internet; the apparatus of an Internet-based trading interface and engine; the notion of cookie-cutter futures electronic Internet-based futures markets for each security; the feature of maximal reliance on the Internet; and the business concept of “profitability without the need for high trading volume.”
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Citations
95 Claims
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1. A method of conducting business comprising the steps of:
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establishing a computer-network based futures trading system electronically accessible by prospective traders;
selling, over said trading system, futures contract bundles, each contract bundle comprising at least two futures contracts;
subsequent to a sale of said futures contract bundles, accepting for resale over said trading system, any of said futures contract bundles;
reselling, over said trading system, accepted futures contract bundles;
settling said futures contract bundles; and
assessing, for at least one of said futures contract bundle sale and said futures contract resale, a transaction fee therefor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. In a computer network-based futures trading system, including a communications interface, a plurality of processing modules for formation, sale, resale and settlement of futures contract bundles, each of said futures contract bundles comprising at least two futures contracts, the improvement comprising:
means for enabling market participants to trade directly with other market participants, and not through third parties, wherein said traders are anonymous to each other.
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29. In a computer network-based futures trading system, including a communications interface, a plurality of processing modules for formation, sale, resale and settlement of futures contract bundles, each of said futures contract bundles comprising at least two futures contracts, the improvement comprising:
means for receiving input from a prospective trader defining a hedge instrument directed to a phenomena having at least two future possible outcomes at a time of maturity of said instrument.
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30. A computer-based futures trading system to enable the formation, sale, resale and settlement, and optionally split, of risk management contracts, the system comprising:
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a communications interface for sending and receiving data;
a first processing module for receiving data to define a desired contract for a predetermined phenomenon, the phenomenon having at least two future possible outcomes at a time of maturity;
a second processing module, responsive to said first processing module, for generating a specific futures contract bundle based on said received data, said contract bundle comprising at least two risk management contracts, each of said at least two risk management contracts corresponding to one of said at least two future possible outcomes of said phenomenon at the time of maturity, said futures contract bundle being defined to pay an aggregate fixed sum at maturity, each of said at least two risk management contracts paying said fixed sum at maturity upon the happening of the future possible outcome of said phenomenon associated with that risk management contract, each of said at least two risk management contracts paying a zero sum at maturity upon the non-happening of the future possible outcome of said phenomenon associated with that risk management contract;
a third processing module for selling said specific futures contract bundle;
a fourth processing module for accepting for resale and for reselling risk management contracts a fifth processing module for accepting said futures contract bundles for settlement thereof; and
a sixth processing module for assessing, for at least one of said futures contract bundle sale and said futures contract resale, a transaction fee therefor. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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35. A method of providing risk hedging capability to prospective traders comprising the steps of:
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receiving data from a prospective trader identifying a predetermined phenomenon for which a futures contract is desired, the phenomenon having at least two future possible outcomes at a time of maturity;
selling futures contract bundles, each contract bundle comprising at least two futures contracts, each of said at least two futures contracts corresponding to one of said at least two future possible outcomes of said phenomenon at a time of maturity thereof;
subsequent to a sale of said futures contract bundles, accepting for resale over said trading system, any of said futures contract bundles;
reselling, over said trading system, accepted futures contract bundles at a then prevailing market price;
subsequent to a resale of said accepted futures contract bundles, publishing said then prevailing market price;
settling said futures contract bundles; and
assessing, for at least one of said futures contract bundle sale and said futures contract resale, a transaction fee therefor.
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36. A computer-based futures trading system comprising:
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a user interface front end, said front end providing interface to at least a new instrument application, an order placement application, a bundle sale redemption and expiration application, a clearing application, an administrative application, and a surveillance application;
an order management and processing system, said order management and processing system including a validation subsystem, an order routing subsystem, and an order matching subsystem;
a contract expiration management system for recording ownership traded contracts, for notifying contract owners of the expiration thereof, and for communicating with a settlement bank directing the bank to transfer funds in accordance with the settlement value of said contracts;
a surveillance system.
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41. A method of conducting business comprising the steps of:
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establishing a computer-network based coupons trading system electronically accessible by prospective traders;
selling, over said trading system, coupons;
reselling, over said trading system, at least a portion of said coupons;
settling said coupons; and
assessing, for at least one of said coupon sale and said coupon resale, a transaction fee therefor. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64)
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65. A computer-network based coupons trading system, comprising:
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computer means;
means for selling, over said trading system, coupons;
means for reselling, over said trading system, said coupons;
means for settling said coupons; and
means for assessing, for at least one of said coupon sale and said coupon resale, a transaction fee therefor. - View Dependent Claims (66, 67, 68, 69)
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70. A method of conducting business comprising the steps of:
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establishing a computer-network based restricted clientele contracts trading system electronically accessible by prospective qualified traders;
selling, over said trading system, at least one restricted clientele contract;
reselling, over said trading system, at least one restricted clientele contract;
settling, over said trading system, at least one restricted clientele contract; and
assessing, for at least one of said restricted clientele contract sale and said restricted clientele contract resale, a transaction fee therefor. - View Dependent Claims (71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92)
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93. A computer-network based restricted clientele contracts trading system electronically accessible by prospective qualified traders, comprising:
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means for selling, over said trading system, at least one restricted clientele contract;
means for reselling, over said trading system, at least one restricted clientele contract;
means for settling, over said trading system, at least one restricted clientele contract; and
means for assessing, for at least one of said restricted clientele contract sale and said restricted clientele contract resale, a transaction fee therefor. - View Dependent Claims (94, 95)
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Specification