Method for monitoring and trading stocks via the internet displaying bid/ask trade bars

• US 6,272,474 B1
• Filed: 02/08/1999
• Issued: 08/07/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 02/08/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Crisostomo B. Garcia
• Original Assignee: Crisostomo B. Garcia
• Inventors: Garcia, Crisostomo B.
• Primary Examiner(s): Downs, Robert W.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Wasylchak, Steven R
• Application Number:
  US09/246,304
• Time in Patent Office: 911 Days
• Field of Search: 705/35, 705/36, 705/37
• US Class Current: 705/36.00R
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/206 Drawing of charts or graphs

Abstract

A method for providing stock information to traders. Stock information is received that includes bid offers, ask offers, the size of the bid offers and the size of the ask offers and the identity of the market makers making each offer. In addition, trade information is received that includes the volume of each trade, the time of each trade, and the price of each trade. The stock information and trade information are displayed on a display screen. The display screen includes a display of bid/ask trade bars for a stock or each of selected number of stocks in which percentage of sales at bid prices and percentage of sales at ask prices are depicted. By considering the display screen, traders are better able to determine trading patterns of the market makers in those selected stocks and increase their probability of buying low and selling high. In a preferred embodiment, the bid/ask trade bars include the following information: the percentage of trades at the ask prices, the percentage of trades at the bid prices, the percentage of trades between the ask and the bid, the bid-to-ask ratio, the volume of trades over a given interval. In a preferred embodiment, the bid/ask bar information can be filtered to represent the trading activity of all of the agents or a specified group of market makers or ECNs. Also, in a preferred embodiment, the stock information and trade information are received at a web site, and the traders who view the display screen are online traders having access to the Internet.

Claims

1. A method for providing stock information to traders, comprising the steps of:

A) receiving stock information, said stock information comprising;

1) bid offers,

2) ask offers,

3) size of said bid offers and said ask offers, and

4) identity of the agents making each offer,

B) receiving trade information, comprising;

1) volume of each trade,

2) time of said each trade, and

3) price of said each trade, and

C) displaying stock information and said trade information on a display screen, said screen comprising bid/ask trade bars,

wherein by considering said display screen, the traders are able to determine a trading pattern of the agents.

2. A method as in claim 1, wherein said receiving of stock information and said receiving of trade information occurs at a web site, and wherein said displaying of the stock information and trade information is seen by traders having access to the Internet.

3. A method as in claim 2, further comprising the step of charging a fee to the traders having access to the Internet.

4. A method as in claim 1, wherein said bid/ask trade bars comprise:

A) a percentage of trades at the bid,

B) a percentage of trades at the ask, and

C) the total volume traded.

5. A method as in claim 1, wherein said bid/ask trade bars comprise:

A) a percentage of trades at the bid or lower,

B) a percentage of trades at the ask or higher, and

C) the total volume traded.

6. A method as in claim 5, wherein said bid/ask trade bars further comprise a percentage of trades occurring between said percentage of trades at the bid and said percentage of trades at the ask.

7. A method as in claim 5, wherein said bid/ask trade bars further comprise a ratio between said percentage of trades at the bid and said percentage of trades at the ask.

8. A method as in claim 5, wherein said bid/ask bars comprise:

1) a first section, and

2) a second section.

9. A method as in claim 8, wherein said first section represents said percentage of trades at the bid and is a first color and wherein said second section represents said percentage of trades at the bid and is a second color.

10. A method as in claim 9, wherein said first color is red and said second color is green.

11. A method as in claim 6, wherein said bid/ask bars comprise:

1) a first section,

2) a second section, and

3) a third section.

12. A method as in claim 11, wherein said first section represents said percentage of trades at the bid and is a first color and wherein said second section represents said percentage of trades at the bid and is a second color and wherein said third section represents a percentage of trades occurring between said percentage of trades at the bid and said percentage of trades at the ask and is a third color.

13. A method as in claim 9, wherein said first color is red, said second color is green and said third color is white.

14. A method as in claim 5, wherein said total volume traded is determined by the length of said bid/ask bar.

15. A method as in claim 1, wherein said bid/ask trade bars are representative of all the agents in the market.

16. A method as in claim 1, wherein said bid/ask trade bars are representative of a selected group of agents in the market.

17. A method as in claim 1, wherein said bid/ask trade bars are representative of the dominant agent for a particular stock.

18. A method as in claim 1, wherein said stock information is NASDAQ Level II information.