Securities trading system with multiple levels of interest

Abstract

Disclosed is a securities trading program for trading individual lots of a security which can be run at a security trader's computer station. The program generates a trading screen comprising a listing of multiple bids for the security, each bid having a price, as well as a listing of multiple priced offers for the security. The bid and offer listings are active, enabling the trader to hit any one of the displayed bids or take any one of the displayed offers, for example by selecting and clicking on a displayed bid or offer. In one embodiment, the bids and offers are arranged in side-by-side columns on the trader's screen, helping the trader to rapidly overview the market for a particular security, and compare different, possibly competitive, securities by paging through level-of-interest windows for each security. The invention's easily manipulated insights into market dynamics offers a sophisticated trader new opportunities to profitably exploit market niches, for example by browsing for attractive bids or offers on closely comparable securities.

1 . (canceled) 
     
     
         2 . An apparatus comprising:
 at least one processor configured to control:   receiving a plurality of bids and offers for a financial instrument, the plurality of bids and offers being submitted electronically over a communication network by a plurality of computers;   displaying at a display device of a user computer an interface for trading of the financial instrument by a user, wherein the displaying the interface includes:
 displaying bid information comprising bid listings for trading a plurality of bids for the financial instrument, the bid information comprising a first bid indicia corresponding to a best bid price and at least one other bid indicia corresponding to other bids having off-best bid prices lower than the best bid price; 
 display offer information comprising offer listings for trading a plurality of offers for the financial instrument, the offer information comprising a first offer indicia corresponding to a best offer price and at least one other offer indicia corresponding to other offers having off-best offer prices higher than the best offer price; 
 displaying the bid and offer listings in side-by-side vertical lists at the display device respectively ordered by bid value and offer value, with the best bid positioned associated with the best offer; and 
 omitting display of at least some predetermined price levels between displayed levels; 
   receiving from the user computer at least one electronic message comprising a selection via the interface of at least one off-best bid or off-best offer and instructions to execute the selected off-best bid or off-best offer;   executing the selected off-best bid or off-best offer at, respectively, a price worse than the best bid or best offer; and   determining that the user selected two or more of the off-best displayed bids or two or more of the off-best displayed offers, and executing the selected two or more off-best displayed bids or two or more off-best displayed offers simultaneously.   
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 2  wherein:
 the at least one processor is configured to control displaying to the user computer a proportion-of-par value of each bid or offer adjacent the bid or offer price. 
 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein:
 the selected two or more off-best displayed bids or selected two or more of the off-best displayed offers are at different price levels.   
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 4 , wherein:
 the at least one processor is configured to control receiving a user selection of multiple of the displayed bids or offers simultaneously, the multiple of the displayed bids and offers being selected simultaneously via the interface.   
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 4 ,
 wherein the selected two or more off-best displayed bids or two or more of the off-best displayed offers comprise two selected off-best displayed offers.   
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 4 , in which the at least one processor is configured to control:
 receiving a selection of at least two displayed offers at different prices; and   executing the at least two selected displayed offers sequentially in a sequence based on the prices of the offers.   
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 7 , in which the at least one processor is configured to control:
 executing the at least two selected displayed offers sequentially in an ascending-price sequence.   
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 4 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to control:
 receiving a selection from the user of a third offer of the displayed plurality of offers;   determining that a fourth offer has been received after receiving the selection from the user of the third offer, the fourth offer having a price better than the price of the third offer; and   displaying a dialog window at the user computer, the dialog window comprising information regarding the fourth offer and at least one element for the user to selectably accept or ignore the fourth offer.   
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , in which the at least one processor is configured to control:
 executing orders pending at prices at or better than the selected off-best bid or off-best offer in combination with the selected off-best bid or offer.   
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , in which to the processor is configured to control:
 executing the best bid or best offer as part of the combination.   
     
     
         12 . A method comprising:
 controlling, by at least one processor:   receiving, over a communication network, a plurality of bids and offers for a financial instrument, the plurality of bids and offers being submitted electronically by a plurality of computers;   displaying at a display device of a user computer an interface for trading of the financial instrument by a user, in which the displaying the interface comprises:
 displaying bid information comprising bid listings for trading a plurality of bids for the financial instrument, the bid information comprising a first bid indicia corresponding to a best bid price and at least one other bid indicia corresponding to other bids having off-best bid prices lower than the best bid price; 
 displaying offer information comprising offer listings for trading a plurality of offers for the financial instrument, the offer information comprising a first offer indicia corresponding to a best offer price and at least one other offer indicia corresponding to other offers having off-best offer prices higher than the best offer price; 
 displaying the bid and offer listings in side-by-side vertical lists respectively ordered by bid value and offer value, with the best bid positioned associated with the best offer; and 
 omitting display of at least some predetermined price levels between displayed price levels; 
   receiving from the user computer at least one electronic message comprising a selection via the interface of at least one off-best bid or off-best offer and instructions to execute the selected off-best bid or off-best offer; and   executing the selected off-best bid or off-best offer at, respectively, a price worse than the best bid or best offer,   in which the selected off-best bid or off-best offer comprises two or more of the off-best displayed bids or two or more of the off-best displayed offers, and   in which the selected two or more off-best displayed bids or two or more off-best displayed offers are executed simultaneously.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 ,
 in which the financial instrument is a fixed income security, and   in which the displaying the interface including displaying at the display device a proportion-of-par value of each bid or offer adjacent the bid or offer price.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein:
 the financial instrument to be traded is a United States treasury bill, note or bond, a municipal bond or a corporate bond, and   in which the selected two or more off-best displayed bids or selected two or more of the off-best displayed offers are at different price levels.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 12 , in which the receiving the at least one electronic message comprising the selection of the at least one off-best bid or off-best offer and the instructions to execute the selected off-best bid or off-best offer comprises:
 receiving a simultaneous selection of multiple of the displayed bids or offers, the multiple of the displayed bids or offers being selected by the user simultaneously via the interface.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 controlling, by the at least one processor:   receiving an instruction comprising a selection of at least two displayed bids at different prices; and   executing the at least two displayed bids sequentially in a descending price sequence.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 controlling, by the at least one processor:   receiving a selection from the user of a third offer of the displayed plurality of offers;   determining that a fourth offer has been received after receiving the selection from the user of the third offer, the fourth offer having a price better than the price of the third offer, the price of the fourth offer being lower than the price of the third offer; and   displaying a dialog window at the interface, the dialog window comprising information regarding the fourth offer and at least one element for the user to selectably accept or ignore the fourth offer.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 controlling, by the at least one processor, executing orders pending at prices at or better than the selected off-best bid or off-best offer in combination with the selected off-best bid or offer, in which the best bid or best offer is executed as part of the combination.   
     
     
         19 . A non-transitory machine-readable medium configured to store instructions which, when executed by at least one processor, control:
 receiving, over a communication network, a plurality of bids and offers for a financial instrument, the plurality of bids and offers being submitted electronically over the communication network by a plurality of computers;   displaying at a display device of a user computer an interface for trading of the financial instrument by a user, in which the displaying the interface comprises:
 displaying bid information comprising bid listings for trading a plurality of bids for the financial instrument, the bid information comprising a first bid indicia corresponding to a best bid price and at least one other bid indicia corresponding to other bids having off-best bid prices lower than the best bid price; 
 displaying offer information comprising offer listings for trading a plurality of offers for the financial instrument, the offer information comprising a first offer indicia corresponding to a best offer price and at least one other offer indicia corresponding to other offers having off-best offer prices higher than the best offer price; 
 displaying the bid and offer listings in side-by-side vertical lists respectively ordered by bid value and offer value, with the best bid positioned associated with the best offer; and 
 omitting display of at least some predetermined price levels between displayed price levels; 
   receiving from the user computer at least one electronic message comprising a selection via the interface of at least one off-best bid or off-best offer and instructions to execute the selected off-best bid or off-best offer; and   executing the selected off-best bid or off-best offer at, respectively, a price worse than the best bid or best offer,   in which the selected off-best bid or off-best offer comprises two or more of the off-best displayed bids or two or more of the off-best displayed offers, and   in which the selected two or more off-best displayed bids or two or more off-best displayed offers are executed simultaneously.