Systems and Methods for Providing Dynamic Price Axes

• US 20070271171A1
• Filed: 07/29/2005
• Published: 11/22/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 07/29/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: eSpeed Incorporated (BGC Group, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: eSpeed Incorporated (BGC Group, Inc.)
• Inventors: Foley, Kevin, Noviello, Joseph, Lutnick, Howard, Sweeting, Michael
• Granted Patent: US 9,870,590 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/37
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange

Abstract

The invention relates to systems and methods that provide a user interface for use with an electronic trading system. The interface displays a bid price axis and an ask price axis, as well as corresponding sizes, and an indication of the inside market. When the inside market changes in response to changing market conditions, the indication of the inside market changes locations before being restored to its original location by shifting the bid and ask prices in a direction parallel to the bid or ask price axis. The user may enter trade commands at different price levels using an input device. In order to help prevent such trade commands from being entered at erroneous price levels, the system locks a pointer associated with the input device to a price the user points to during the shifting process, unless the pointer is moved away from that price.

Claims

1. A method for displaying market information for an item, the method comprising:

displaying on a user interface a plurality of bid prices along a first axis and a plurality of ask prices along a second axis;

displaying on the user interface an indication of an inside market in a first location along the first and second axes;

when the inside market changes from a first bid price and a first ask price to at least one of a second bid price and a second ask price, displaying the indication of the inside market in a second location along the first and second axes; and

shifting the plurality of bid prices along the first axis and the plurality of ask prices along the second axis to restore the indication of the inside market to the first location.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the second axis is parallel to the first axis.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the first and second axis are the same axis.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the first and second axes are curved axes.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising, when the inside market changes from a first bid price and a first ask price to at least one of a second bid price and a second ask price, displaying at least one additional price along the first or second axis, the at least one additional price comprising the second bid or ask price.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising, when shifting the plurality of bid and ask prices, displaying along the first and second axes one or more bid and ask prices that were not previously displayed on the user interface.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein shifting the plurality of bid and ask prices comprises shifting the plurality of bid and ask prices on a pixel by pixel basis within the user interface.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein displaying the plurality of bid and ask prices comprises:

displaying the plurality of bid prices in a first plurality of cells that are aligned along the first axis; and

displaying the plurality of ask prices in a second plurality of cells that are aligned along the second axis.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein shifting the plurality of bid and ask prices comprises transitioning the plurality of bid and ask prices on a cell by cell basis.

10. The method of claim 8 wherein shifting the plurality of bid and ask prices on a cell by cell basis comprises transitioning the plurality of cells substantially simultaneously.

11. The method of claim 8 wherein shifting the plurality of bid and ask prices on a cell by cell basis comprises transitioning the first and second plurality of prices substantially simultaneously from one cell to another.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein shifting the plurality of bid and ask prices occurs at a particular speed.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein said speed is set by a user of an electronic trading system that comprises the user interface.

14. The method of claim 12 wherein said speed is based on market activity.

15. The method of claim 12 wherein said speed decreases when a user of the user interface enters a command to trade the item.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein shifting the plurality of bid and ask prices occurs at a slower speed when a pointer associated with an input device is pointing to one of the plurality of bid and ask prices than when the pointer is not pointing to any of the plurality of bid and ask prices.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein, when the inside market changes, at least one of the plurality of prices displayed changes locations between the first and the second axes within the user interface.

18. The method of claim 1 further comprising receiving a command to trade the item from a user.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein the command comprises a selection of at least one of the plurality of prices displayed in the first and second axes.

20. The method of claim 18 wherein the command relates to a particular size of the item at a selected price.

21. The method of claim 18 wherein the command comprises an order selected from the group consisting of a bid, an ask, a buy and a sell.

22. The method of claim 18 wherein the command is received through an input device selected from the group consisting of a mouse, a trackball, a game controller, a touch pad and a keyboard.

23. The method of claim 1 further comprising, substantially at the same time as shifting the plurality of bid and ask prices, repositioning a pointer associated with an input device on the user interface such that the pointer is pointing to a price previously pointed to prior to the change in the inside market.

24. The method of claim 23 further comprising ceasing to reposition the pointer when the pointer is moved away from the price pointed to.

25. The method of claim 1 further comprising displaying on the user interface a plurality of sizes along a third axis that is parallel to the first axis, wherein at least one of the plurality of sizes corresponds to at least one order on the item for a price displayed in a location along the first axis that is aligned with a location of the at least one of the plurality of sizes.

26. The method of claim 25 further comprising displaying on the user interface a second plurality of sizes along a fourth axis that is parallel to the second axis, wherein at least one of the second plurality of sizes corresponds to at least one order on the item for a price displayed in a location along the second axis that is aligned with a location of the at least one of the second plurality of sizes.

27. A method for displaying market information for an item, the method comprising:

displaying on a user interface a plurality of bid prices along a first axis and a plurality of ask prices along a second axis;

displaying on the user interface an indication of an inside market in a first location along the first and second axes;

when the inside market changes from a first bid price and a first ask price to at least one of a second bid price and a second ask price, displaying the indication of the inside market in a second location along the first and second axes;

following the displaying of the indication of the inside market in the second location, shifting the plurality of bid prices along the first axis and the plurality of ask prices along the second axis; and

substantially at the same time as shifting the plurality of bid and ask prices, repositioning a pointer associated with an input device on the user interface such that the pointer is pointing to a price previously pointed to prior to the change in the inside market.

28. A system for displaying market information for an item, the system comprising a server adapted to distribute a plurality of bid and ask prices associated with the item to a plurality of workstations that are coupled to the server, each of the plurality of workstations displaying a user interface and being adapted to:

display on the user interface a plurality of bid prices along a first axis and a plurality of ask prices along a second axis;

display on the user interface an indication of the inside market in a first location along the first and second axes;

when the inside market changes from a first bid price and a first ask price to at least one of a second bid price and a second ask price, display the indication of the inside market in a second location along the first and second axes; and

shift the plurality of bid prices along the first axis and the plurality of ask prices along the second axis to restore the indication of the inside market to the first location.

29. A system for displaying market information for an item, the system comprising a server adapted to distribute a plurality of bid and ask prices associated with the item to a plurality of workstations that are coupled to the server, each of the plurality of workstations displaying a user interface, having an input device and being adapted to:

display on the user interface a plurality of bid prices along a first axis and a plurality of ask prices along a second axis;

display on the user interface an indication of the inside market in a first location along the first and second axes;

when the inside market changes from a first bid price and a first ask price to at least one of a second bid price and a second ask price, display the indication of the inside market in a second location along the first and second axes;

following the displaying of the indication of the inside market in the second location, shift the plurality of bid prices along the first axis and the plurality of ask prices along the second axis; and

substantially at the same time as shifting the plurality of bid and ask prices, reposition a pointer associated with the input device on the user interface such that the pointer is pointing to a price previously pointed to prior to the change in the inside market.