Abstract:
A method and system for commodity transactions utilizing a slider bar to quickly determine a price for a transaction based upon a par price for the commodity. The use of a slider bar allows a trader to quickly determine a price for the transaction relative to par and transmit that transaction to a commodity market provider.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     When using a personal computing device utilizing a network such as the Internet for the purpose of making trades in commodities, latencies in data delivery can have a significant impact in fast markets where prices may fluctuate widely for volatile equities.  
         [0002]     Commodity markets typically allow a trader to specify a limit price to purchase or sell commodities. The price that is specified must be manually keyed in by the trader through the use of a personal computing device. This is not always ideal for fast markets, particularly when the current price of the commodity of interest is not immediately available. In order for a trader to verify the current price of an commodity before submitting an order to purchase or sell, the trader must request that an updated price be delivered to their personal computing device.  
         [0003]     Thus there is a need for a system and method to allow a trader to quickly place a trade in a fast market without the need to recheck current price.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0004]     For a better understanding of the present invention, and to show more clearly how it may be carried into effect, reference will now be made, by way of example, to the accompanying drawings which aid in understanding an embodiment of the present invention and in which:  
         [0005]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a personal computing device interfacing with a commodity market provider;  
         [0006]      FIG. 2  is a an illustration of a graphical trader interface that implements an embodiment of the present invention on a personal computing device;  
         [0007]      FIG. 3  is a block diagram of the components for implementing an embodiment of the present invention on a personal computing device; and  
         [0008]      FIG. 4  is a flowchart of the steps for conducting a transaction.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0009]     Referring first to  FIG. 1 , a block diagram of a personal computing device interfacing with a commodity market provider is illustrated.  FIG. 1  illustrates four main components, personal computing device  10 , commodity market provider  12 , network  14  and financial institution  16 . Personal computing device  10  may be any computing device, such as a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), cell phone, laptop or desktop computer. Personal computing device  10  and commodity market provider  12  exchange information on the purchase or sale of commodities via network  14 . An example of a commodity market provider would be a brokerage house providing the ability to trade equities such as stocks, futures, options and mutual funds. Other examples of commodity market providers would include those that sell blocks of airplane seats, clothing, gems or hardware. It is not the intent of the inventor to restrict embodiments utilizing the invention disclosed to specific types of commodities or commodity market providers.  
         [0010]     Requests for information on a commodity purchase or sale, from personal computing device  10  are sent to commodity market provider  12  via a connection to network  14 . In one embodiment the connection to network  14  may be wireless. It is not the intent of the inventor to restrict the interface to network  14  to being wireless. For example a personal computing device  10  utilizing any medium for communication with network  14  may make use of the present invention. Network  14  may be any network capable of exchanging information between personal computing device  10  and commodity market provider  12 , such as the Internet, a local area network or a wide area network. Network  14  passes information between computing device  10  and commodity market provider  12  by a communication protocol acceptable to both. A typical example of information passed between personal computing device  10  and commodity market provider  14  would include a request for a price (from personal computing device  10 ), a response to the price (from commodity market provider  12 ), an offer to purchase or sell (from personal computing device  10 ) and confirmation of the offer to purchase or sell (from commodity market trader  12 ).  
         [0011]     When communicating through network  14 , personal computing device  10  and commodity market provider  12  may make use of firewalls  18   a  and  18   b  to ensure secure communications through network  14 .  
         [0012]     Commodity market provider  12  may also make use of financial institution  16  to debit or credit the account of a trader for each transaction. Financial institution  16  may be connected to network  14  through firewall  18   c  or via a secure link  20  to ensure confidentiality and security of transactions.  
         [0013]     Referring now to  FIG. 2  an illustration of a graphical trader interface that implements an embodiment of the present invention on a personal computing device is shown as  30 . Interface  30  comprises a transaction request block  32 , a top information scale  34 , a bottom information scale  36 , a slider bar  38  and status information  40 .  
         [0014]     As shown in transaction request block  32 , a trader has submitted a request to purchase a commodity (RIMM), the type of transaction being a limit buy and the quantity of the commodity being two hundred. This request would be entered through a user interface  33  where the trader would enter the commodity, the transaction type and the quantity. The commodity, transaction type and quantity would be provided by interface  33  for display in block  32 . Top information scale  34  provides a par price for the commodity and percentages below and higher than the par price. Bottom information scale  36  translates the values shown on top information scale  34  into a value for the commodity. Slider bar  38  is positioned by the trader utilizing top information scale  34  and bottom information scale  36  to select a transaction price. As slider bar  38  is moved by the trader, status information  40  is updated to indicate the price selected and the percentage related to the par price.  
         [0015]     In use, the trader would move slider bar  38  to a value for purchasing or selling the commodity. This may be accomplished through any number of interface devices such as a trackwheel, joystick, mouse, keyboard, touch screen, or another device that provides similar functionality. An example of another device could be a mechanical device operatively connected to personal computing device  10 . In one embodiment such a mechanical device may include a display showing a commodity price, a dial which may be rotated to select a transaction price and buttons to press for a purchase or sale. An alternative embodiment of a mechanical device would comprise a display showing a commodity price and a series of buttons, which would be utilized to select a commodity price range for either a purchase or a sale. In this alternative embodiment of a mechanical device each button in the series of buttons would map to a price range, for example from 20% below the current price to 20% above the current price, in 5% increments. The use of a mechanical device is proposed as an option as it could provide a more rapid response from a trader than that of a conventional interface device operatively connected to personal computing device  10 .  
         [0016]     Once the trader has selected the transaction price as shown in status information  40 , the trader interface device is utilized to confirm the transaction price. Confirmation of the selected transaction price may be achieved for example by a mouse click, a keystroke or the pushing of a button. In an optional second step the trader may be required to further confirm the transaction by a second mouse click, a keystroke or the pushing of a button. The elimination of the second step allows for rapid confirmation in quick markets. The inclusion of the second step allows the trader to consider the transaction before committing. A trader may toggle between the two types of confirmation through the use of a combination of keys, such as function or control keys, or through options provided via the graphical trading interface.  
         [0017]     Interface  30  is an example of one embodiment of a trader interface for the present invention utilizing slider bar  38 . It is not the intent of the inventor to restrict how the information regarding a purchase or sale of a commodity may be displayed, simply that a slider bar  38  may be utilized to determine a value for buying or selling a commodity.  
         [0018]     Referring now to  FIG. 3 , a block diagram of the components for implementing an embodiment of the present invention on a personal computing device is shown. In the embodiment shown in  FIG. 3 , components  50 ,  52 ,  54  and  56  reside on personal computing device  10 . User interface component  50  displays transaction information through interface  30  to a trader. User interface component  50  monitors slider bar  38  and actions made by a trader to select a transaction price. User component interface  50  communicates with trading logic component  52  to indicate an action taken by a trader such as selecting a transaction price, and determining if to purchase or sell. In return trading logic component  52  provides updated transaction information to user interface component  50 . Once a transaction has been chosen by a trader, trading logic component  52  passes the transaction information to trading protocol component  54 . Trading protocol component  54  formats transactions to a form acceptable to a commodity market provider  12  and utilizes security and hardware protocol component  56  to communicate with a commodity market provider  12 .  
         [0019]     Although components  50 ,  52 ,  54  and  56  are shown as being resident on a personal computing device  10 , they need not be. For example, user interface  50  may be resident in a separate device. Similarly, security and hardware protocols  56  may be resident in firewall  18   a . It is not the intent for the inventors to restrict where the components shown in  FIG. 3  may reside.  
         [0020]     Referring now to  FIG. 4 a  flowchart of the steps for conducting a transaction is shown generally as  60 . The steps of  FIG. 4  are implemented by one or more of the components shown in  FIG. 3 . Beginning at step  62  a request is made by a trader utilizing personal computing device  10  for the price of a commodity to a commodity market provider  12 . Information on the commodity and the pricing is returned to the trader and at step  64  the personal computing device  10  parses the returned information and displays it to the trader in a format such as shown in  FIG. 2  having a slider bar  38 . At step  66  the trader moves the slider bar  38  or the equivalent and the movement is detected and the position of slider bar  38  and status information  40  are updated accordingly.  
         [0021]     At step  68 , once the trader has selected the transaction price as shown in status information  40 , the trader interface device is utilized to confirm the transaction price. Confirmation of the selected transaction price may be achieved for example by a mouse click, a keystroke or the pushing of a button. In an optional second step the trader may be required to further confirm the transaction by a second mouse click, a keystroke or the pushing of a button. The elimination of the second step allows for rapid confirmation in quick markets. The inclusion of the second step allows the trader to consider the transaction before committing. A trader may toggle between the two types of confirmation through the use of a combination of keys, such as function or control keys, or through options provided via the graphical trading interface.  
         [0022]     At step  70  the transaction is forwarded to the commodity market provider  12  that provided the original pricing information and the transaction is completed. During step  70  commodity market provider  12  may also communicate with financial institution  16  to verify the transaction.  
         [0023]     Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.