System and method for calculating and displaying volume to identify buying and selling in an electronic trading environment

• US 7,565,318 B2
• Filed: 03/08/2006
• Issued: 07/21/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Trading Technologies International, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Trading Technologies International, Inc.
• Inventors: West, Robert A., Tanpoco, Alvin F.
• Primary Examiner(s): Trammell; James P
• Assistant Examiner(s): GREENE, DANIEL LAWSON
• Application Number:
  US11/370,693
• Publication Number:
  US 20060293997A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,231 Days
• Field of Search: 705/37, 715/764, 715/774, 715/781, 715/811, 715/810, 345/418, 345/440.1, 345/440.2, 345/469, 345/619
• US Class Current: 705/37
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange

Abstract

A system and method are provided for calculating and displaying volume to identify aggressive buying or selling activity. In a preferred embodiment, market information such as the inside market, last traded price, and last traded quantity is received from the electronic exchange and is used to assist a trader in determining the initiative side of a trade, either bid side or ask side. Once a determination is made, the result may be used to assist a trader analyzing the market volume. Other features and advantages are described herein.

Claims

1. A computing device displaying on a graphical interface volume associated with a tradeable object being traded on an electronic exchange, the tradeable object having an inside market with a highest bid price and a lowest ask price, comprising:

a processing device configured to execute code including instructions to display the graphical user interface having;

a value axis comprising a plurality of values, the plurality of values being arranged in a sequence from a highest value to a lowest value along the value axis; and

a chart region for displaying an indicator against the value axis, the indicator corresponding to a current running total volume, wherein a value corresponding to the indicator is determined by adding or subtracting a last traded quantity from a previous running total volume, wherein the determination to add or subtract a last traded quantity is based on whether a last trade occurred on a bid side or an ask side.

2. The computing device of claim 1, wherein determining if the last trade occurred on the bid side or the ask side is based on comparing a last traded price to an inside market price.

3. The computing device of claim 1, further comprising:

adding the last traded quantity to the previous running total volume if the last trade occurred on the ask side; and

subtracting the last traded quantity from the previous running total volume if the last trade occurred on the bid side.

4. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the preceding running total volume comprises a user-configured value.

5. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the current running total volume is calculated by determining if the last traded price is equal to the lowest ask price, and if so, adding the last traded quantity to the current running total volume value to determine the current running total volume.

6. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the current running total volume is calculated by determining if the last traded price is equal to the highest bid price, and if so, subtracting the last traded quantity from the current running total volume to determine the current running total volume.

7. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the current running total volume is calculated by determining if the last traded price is higher than the lowest ask price, and if so, adding the last traded quantity from to the current running total volume value to determine the current running total volume.

8. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the current running total volume is calculated by determining if the last traded price is higher than the lowest ask price, and if so, not adding the last traded quantity to the current running total volume value to determine the current running total volume.

9. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the current running total volume is calculated by determining if the last traded price is lower than the highest bid price, and if so, subtracting the last traded quantity from the current running total volume value to determine the current running total volume.

10. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the current running total volume is calculated by determining if the last traded price is lower than the highest bid price, and if so, not subtracting the last traded quantity from the current running total volume value to determine the current running total volume.

11. The computing device of claim 1, further comprising:

a time axis comprising a plurality of times, wherein the indicator is further displayed in relation to the time axis.

12. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the indicator comprises a chart that displays the current running total volume over time.

13. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the chart region further comprises historical current running total volume indicators.

14. The computing device of claim 1, further comprising:

a price chart for displaying market information related to the tradeable object based on market information being received from an electronic exchange.

15. The computing device of claim 14, wherein the price chart comprises a historical price chart.

16. The computing device of claim 1, further comprising:

a buying market trend indicator displayed in the chart region, wherein the buying market trend indicator is determined based on the current running total volume and the previous running total volume.

17. The computing device of claim 1, further comprising:

a selling market trend indicator displayed in the chart region, wherein the selling market trend indicator is determined based on the current running total volume and the previous running total volume.

18. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the indicator comprises a graphical indicator.