Patent ID: 7424454
Filing Date: 2008-09-09
Classification: G06Q

Abstract:
1. A method for determining an opening price for a financial instrument traded in a trading system, wherein the method is executed over a network computer system and comprises the steps of: receiving orders for the financial instrument, the orders specifying a quantity and whether the order is a buy or sell order; determining an imbalance condition between received buy orders and received sell orders for the financial instrument; posting an imbalance message for receipt by participants to permit submission of orders to reduce the imbalance, the imbalance message comprising a quantity of the imbalance and an indication of the side of the imbalance; receiving orders in response to the posted imbalance message; determining a price for the financial instrument based at least in part on orders received in response to the posted imbalance message; posting an allocation message to the participants to communicate the participants' expected allocations of the imbalance for execution by the participants at an opening of the market in the event that the imbalance exists at the opening; and posting the opening price for the financial instrument to the participants.