Graphical user interface to facilitate rapid and reliable electronic trading assessment and execution

• US 20060161495A1
• Filed: 12/14/2005
• Published: 07/20/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 12/15/2004
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Orc Software AB (Itiviti Group AB)
• Original Assignee: Orc Software AB (Itiviti Group AB)
• Inventors: Wigzell, Simon
• Application Number:
  US11/302,497
• Publication Number:
  US 20060161495A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/37
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/06 Asset management; Financial planning or analysis

Abstract

An electronic trading user interface allows a trader to react to market conditions very quickly in order to give the trader an improved probability of trading at a desired price and volume. The electronic order process is made faster, more efficient, and more reliable. The construction and sending of orders may be performed using a simple “click” of a mouse or other input device. The current market data is presented dynamically and in a user-friendly way to allow a trader to quickly assess the current market situation, including the trader'"'"'s own orders, and to send orders quickly and reliably. Different embodiments are presented that ensure that the trader sends the order at the price intended, which is particularly desirable when the market is moving simultaneously or very close in time with when the trader is selecting and placing an order.

Claims

1. A method for placing a trade order for a financial instrument on an electronic exchange using a graphical user interface that includes a display screen and a user input device that allows the user to interact with the display screen and a trading panel displayed on the display screen, comprising:

displaying in the trading panel a market depth of the financial instrument including;

a display of bids in the market for the financial instrument,

a display of asks in the market for the financial instrument, and

a display of prices in the market for the financial instrument, wherein the price display is interposed between the bid display and the ask display;

wherein a user may use the user input device to enter a trade command by selecting a region of one of the displays in the trading panel and actuating the user device to enter an order for the financial instrument at a volume and price displayed in or associated with that region of the trading panel;

moving the displays in the trading panel with a change in the market for the financial instrument; and

moving the trading panel to a different position on the display screen with the change in the market for the financial instrument.

2. The method in claim 1, wherein the trading panel is located at a first position in the display screen so that at least some of the displayed prices in the market for the financial instrument remain at a same position on the display screen as a result of moving the trading panel to the different position on the display screen with the change in the market.

3. The method in claim 2, wherein the at least some of the displayed prices move in the trading panel with the change in the market.

4. The method in claim 2, wherein at least some of the displayed asks and bids in the market for the financial instrument remain at a same position on the display screen as a result of moving the trading panel to the different position on the display screen with the change in the market.

5. The method in claim 2, wherein the trading panel includes a trading window and a trading table within the trading window, and wherein moving the trading panel includes moving both the trading window and the trading table.

6. The method in claim 1, wherein the trading panel includes a trading window and a trading table within the trading window, and wherein moving the trading panel includes moving the trading table within the trading window.

7. The method in claim 1, wherein the entered order is a buy order if the position of the selected row at the time of actuation is within a bid order entry region and wherein the entered order is a sell order if the selected row at the time of actuation is within an ask order entry region, the method further comprising displaying a side switch indicator at a price level on one of the bid and ask dynamic displays which when selected and actuated by the user device causes a selected user trade order to be switched to the price level on the other of the bid and ask dynamic displays.

8. The method in claim 1, further comprising:

selecting with the user device a region in the dynamic display to configure a first trade order at a first price;

moving with the user device the first trade order to a different display region associated with a second price to configure a second trade order; and

entering the second trade order.

9. The method in claim 8, wherein the user device is a mouse, the selecting includes using a mouse to point to the selected region, the configuring includes clicking the mouse at the selected region, and the moving and entering are performing by dragging the first trade order to the different display region and unclicking the mouse.

10. The method in claim 1, wherein the user device is a mouse configured in use to permit the user to move a pointer to different locations on the display screen, the selecting includes using the mouse to move the cursor over the selected region, and the actuating includes clicking the mouse when the cursor is over the selected region.

11. The method in claim 1, further comprising:

withdrawing all bid orders by selecting, using the user device, an area of the display configured as a withdraw bid region and actuating the user device, and

withdrawing all ask orders by selecting, using the user device, an area of the display configured as a withdraw ask region and actuating the user device.

12. The method in claim 1, wherein the dynamic bid display, dynamic ask display, and dynamic price display have a different display characteristic to facilitate visual distinction, and wherein the best price is highlighted on the display.

13. The method in claim 1, further comprising:

providing a template display region permitting selection of a template using the user device,

automatically including information in the order based on the selected template.

14. A computer readable medium having program code recorded thereon for execution on a computer having a graphical user interface including a display screen and a user input device useable to interact with the display screen and a trading panel displayed on the display screen to place a trade order for a financial instrument on an electronic exchange, comprising:

first program code for displaying in the trading panel a market depth of the financial instrument including;

a display of bids in the market for the financial instrument,

a display of asks in the market for the financial instrument, and

a display of prices in the market for the financial instrument, wherein the price display is interposed between the bid display and the ask display;

wherein a user may use the user input device to enter a trade command by selecting a region of one of the displays in the trading panel and actuating the user device to enter an order for the financial instrument at a volume and price displayed in or associated with that region of the trading panel;

second program code for moving the displays in the trading panel with a change in the market for the financial instrument; and

third program code for moving the trading panel to a different position on the display screen with the change in the market for the financial instrument.

15. The computer readable medium in claim 14, wherein the first program code is configured to locate the trading panel at a first position in the display screen so that at least some of the displayed prices in the market for the financial instrument remain at a same position on the display screen when the trading panel is at the different position on the display screen.

16. The computer readable medium in claim 15, wherein the second program code is configured to move the at least some of the displayed prices in the trading panel with the change in the market.

17. The computer readable medium in claim 15, wherein the second program code is configured to maintain at least some of the displayed asks and bids in the market for the financial instrument at a same position on the display screen as a result of moving the trading panel to the different position on the display screen with the change in the market.

18. The computer readable medium in claim 14, wherein the trading panel includes a trading window and a trading table within the trading window, and wherein the third program code is configured to move both the trading window and the trading table.

19. The computer readable medium in claim 14, wherein the trading panel includes a trading window and a trading table within the trading window, and wherein the third program code is configured to move the trading table within the trading window.

20. The computer readable medium in claim 14, wherein the entered order is a buy order if the position of the selected row at the time of actuation is within a bid order entry region and wherein the entered order is a sell order if the selected row at the time of actuation is within an ask order entry region, the computer readable medium further comprising program code for displaying a side switch indicator at a price level on one of the bid and ask dynamic displays which when selected and actuated by the user device causes a selected user trade order to be switched to the price level on the other of the bid and ask dynamic displays.

21. The computer readable medium in claim 14, further comprising program code for:

withdrawing all bid orders in an area of the display configured as a withdraw bid region selected by the user device, and

withdrawing all ask orders in an area of the display configured as a withdraw ask region selected by the user device.

22. The computer readable medium in claim 14, further comprising program code for:

providing a template display region permitting selection of a template with the user device, and

automatically including information in the order based on a selected template.

23. A client system for placing a trade order for a financial instrument on an electronic exchange, comprising:

a display screen,

a user input device that allows the user to interact with the display screen,

a computer for controlling the display in accordance with inputs from the user input device to display a market depth of the financial instrument including;

a display of bids in the market for the financial instrument,

a display of asks in the market for the financial instrument, and

a display of prices in the market for the financial instrument, wherein the price display is interposed between the bid display and the ask display,

wherein the computer is configured to permit a user to enter a trade command by selecting a region of one of the displays with the user input device and actuate the user input device to enter an order for the financial instrument at a volume and price displayed in or associated with that region, and

wherein the computer is configured to move the displays in the trading panel with a change in the market for the financial instrument and move the trading panel to a different position on the display screen with the change in the market for the financial instrument.

24. The client system in claim 23, wherein the computer is configured to locate the trading panel at a first position in the display screen so that at least some of the displayed prices in the market for the financial instrument remain at a same position on the display screen when the trading panel is at the different position on the display screen.

25. The client system in claim 24, wherein the computer is configured to move the at least some of the displayed prices in the trading panel with the change in the market.

26. The client system in claim 24, wherein the computer is configured to keep at least some of the displayed asks and bids in the market for the financial instrument at a same position on the display screen when the trading panel is at the different position on the display screen.

27. The client system in claim 23, wherein the trading panel includes a trading window and a trading table within the trading window, and wherein the computer is configured to move both the trading window and the trading table.

28. The client system in claim 23, wherein the trading panel includes a trading window and a trading table within the trading window, and wherein the computer is configured to move the trading table within the trading window.

29. The client system in claim 23, wherein the entered order is a buy order if the position of the selected row at the time of actuation is within a bid order entry region, wherein the entered order is a sell order if the selected row at the time of actuation is within an ask order entry region, and wherein the computer is further configured to display a side switch indicator at a price level on one of the bid and ask dynamic displays which when selected and actuated by the user device causes a selected user trade order to be switched to the price level on the other of the bid and ask dynamic displays.

30. The client system in claim 23, wherein the computer is configured to:

permit the user device to select a region in the dynamic display to configure a first trade order at a first price and move with the user device the first trade order to a different display region associated with a second price to configure a second trade order, and

enter the second trade order.

31. The client system in claim 23, wherein the computer is configured to:

withdraw all bid orders in an area of the display configured as a withdraw bid region selected by the user device, and

withdrawing all ask orders in an area of the display configured as a withdraw ask region selected by the user device.

32. The client system in claim 23, wherein the dynamic bid display, dynamic ask display, and dynamic price display have a different display characteristic to facilitate visual distinction, and wherein the best price is highlighted on the display.

33. The client system in claim 23, wherein the computer is configured to:

provide a template display region permitting selection of a template with the user device,

automatically including information in the order based on a selected template.