Repositioning of market information on trading screens

• US 7,613,651 B1
• Filed: 05/01/2006
• Issued: 11/03/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Trading Technologies International, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Trading Technologies International, Inc.
• Inventors: Buck, Brian J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel; Jagdish N
• Assistant Examiner(s): POE, KEVIN T
• Application Number:
  US11/415,407
• Time in Patent Office: 1,282 Days
• Field of Search: 705/37
• US Class Current: 705/37
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• 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

As market conditions descend or ascend an axis of prices, the display of market information is repositioned, at a pre-determined rate if desired, around an item of interest. An item of interest may include the best bid price, the best ask price, the inside market, a moving average, a last traded price, a theoretical value, the result of an equation, or some other item of interest to the trader. According to the present embodiments, market information may be displayed in a region relative to an axis of prices, and when an event occurs, a repositioning signal is initialized causing the axis to be repositioned such that the item of interest is positioned at a pre-determined location in the region. The price axis can be repositioned at a fixed rate or at a dynamically variable rate.

Claims

1. A method for repositioning market information relating to a tradable object being traded in a market on a graphical user interface, the method comprising:

displaying, by a computing device, a display region comprising a plurality of locations for displaying market information relating to the tradable object, wherein each location corresponds to a price level along a price axis;

identifying an item of interest by the computing device, wherein the item of interest is associated with a first price level;

displaying, by the computing device, an order entry region comprising a plurality of locations for receiving commands to send trade orders, wherein each location of the order entry region corresponds to a price level along the price axis, and wherein each command to send a trade order is responsive to selecting a particular location of the order entry region with a cursor of a user input device;

detecting a change in the value of the item of interest from the first price level to a second price level;

automatically repositioning the price axis, based on the change, together with the plurality of locations in the display region and the order entry region by the computing device, wherein the second price level associated with the item of interest glides to the designated location; and

receiving a command to send a trade order responsive to selection of a location of the order entry region while the price axis is automatically repositioned.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the price axis is automatically repositioned according to a rate of repositioning so that the second price level associated with the item of interest glides to the designated location.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the rate of repositioning comprises a fixed rate of repositioning.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the rate of repositioning comprises a dynamically variable rate of repositioning.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the rate of repositioning is in a range of speeds that comprises slowly repositioning the price axis on the graphical user interface according to units of pixels.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the designated location is a location that is substantially centered in the display region.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the designated location is a location that is off-centered in the display region.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the item of interest represents any of the following:

a best bid price, a best ask price, an inside market, a moving average of the inside market, or a last traded price.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the item of interest has a value equal to a result of an expression in an equation, where the result is equal to the expression in the equation, greater than the expression in the equation, or less than the expression in the equation.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the item of interest comprises a user defined price.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a manual command to reposition the price axis.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying a working order region, the working order region comprising a plurality of locations for displaying working order indicators in relation to the price axis.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein selection of the location of the order entry region comprises selecting the location by a single action of the user input device to send a trade order to an electronic exchange.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein selection of the location of the order entry region comprises selecting the location by a single click of the user input device to send a trade order to an electronic exchange.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein selection of the location of the order entry region comprises selecting the location by a double click of the user input device to send a trade order to an electronic exchange.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the display region and the order entry region overlap.

17. A computer readable medium having computer-executed instructions for performing a method comprising:

displaying, by a computing device a display region comprising a plurality of locations for displaying market information relating to the tradable object, wherein each location corresponds to a price level along a price axis;

identifying an item of interest by the computing device wherein the item of interest is associated with a first price level;

displaying, by the computing device an order entry region comprising a plurality of locations for receiving commands to send trade orders, wherein each location of the order entry region corresponds to a price level along the price axis, and wherein a command to send a trade order is responsive to selecting a particular location of the order entry region with a cursor of a user input device;

detecting a change in the value of the item of interest from the first price level to a second price level;

automatically repositioning the price axis, based on the change, together with the plurality of locations in the display region and the order entry region by the computing device, wherein the second price level associated with the item of interest glides to the designated location; and

receiving a command to send a trade order responsive to selection of a location of the order entry region while the price axis is automatically repositioned.

18. A method for displaying market information, the method comprising:

receiving a highest bid price and a lowest ask price from an electronic exchange;

displaying via a computing device an inside market at a first location along a price axis, wherein the price axis comprises a plurality of price levels, and wherein the inside market identifies the highest bid price and the lowest ask price relative to the plurality of price levels along the price axis;

displaying via the computing device an order entry region, the order entry region comprising a plurality of locations for receiving commands to initiate trade orders, wherein each location of the order entry region corresponds to a price level of the plurality of price levels, and wherein a command to initiate a trade order is responsive to selecting a location of the order entry region with a user input device;

automatically repositioning the price axis via the computing device responsive to an automatic repositioning command, wherein the inside market drifts to a second location along the price axis during the repositioning, wherein the second location is different from the first location, and wherein the plurality of locations of the order entry region are repositioned along with the price axis; and

receiving a command via the computing device to initiate a trade order responsive to selection of a location of the order entry region while the price axis is being automatically repositioned, wherein a price is identified for the trade order based on the selected location.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the command further sets a plurality of order parameters and sends the trade order to the electronic exchange.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the command is a single click of the user input device.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein the command is a double click of the user input device.