Abstract:
According to a computer-implemented approach for renting, customizing, manufacturing, intermediating, and delivering risk and volatility product to customers, customers specify what risk or volatility product to rent using a plurality of risk and/or product selection parameters. According to the approach, customers provide a plurality of risk and/or volatility product selection parameters to a provider provides the risk and volatility product indicated by the plurality of risk and/or volatility product selection parameters to customer over a delivery channel. The risk and/or volatility product provider may be either centralized or distributed depending upon the requirements of a particular application.

Description:
[0001]     Method and apparatus for renting, customizing, manufacturing intermediating, and delivering risk and/or volatility products.  
       RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0002]     U.S. Patent Documents  
                                                           6,842,604   January 2005   Cook, et al.           6,405,245   June 2002   Burson, et al.           6,606,596   August 2003   Zirngibl, et al.           6,850,603   February 2005   Eberle, et al.           5,918,213   June 1999   Bernard, et al.           5,664,110   September 1997   Green, et al.           6,594,642   July 2003   Lemchen           6,584,450   June 2003   Hastings           6,839,686   August 2003   Galant, et al.           6,772,146   August 2003   Khemlani, et al.           6,349,290   February 2002   Hastings           6,681,211   January 2004   Gatto, et al.           6,211,880   April 1998   Impink, Jr.           6,195,103   November 1997   Stewart           5,918,217   November 1997   Stewart           6,801,201   December 2002   Escher           6,298,334   October 2001   Burfield, et al.           6,453,303   September 2002   Li           6,546,375   April 2003   Pang, et al.           6,862,579   August 2003   Mathews, et al.           6,772,136   August 2004   Kant, et al.           6,061,662   May 2000   Makivic           6,829,590   December 2004   Greener, et al.           5,991,743   November 1999   Irving, et al.           5,696,907   December 1997   Tom           6,119,103   September 2000   Basch, et al.,           5,732,397   March 1998   DeTore, et al.           6,708,155   March 2004   Honarvar, et al.           6,611,807   August 2003)   Bernheim, et al.           5,991,744   November 1999   DiCresce           6,292,787   September 2001   Scott, et al.           6,484,152   August 2001   Robinson           5,361,201   November 1994   Jost, et al.           6,058,369   May 2000   Rothstein           6,235,176   May 2001   Schoen, et al.           6,275,807   August 2001   Schirripa           6,611,815   August 2003   Lewis, et al.           6,029,149   February 2000   Dykstra, et al.           5,262,941   November 1993   Saladin, et al.           6,385,594   May 2002   Lebda, et al.           6,850,643   February 2005   Smith, II, et al           6,018,721   January 2000   Aziz, et al.           6,195,647   February 2001   Martyn, et al.           4,376,978   March 1983   Musmanno, et al.           5,913,202   June 1999   Motoyama                      
 
 Foreign Patent Documents 
 
 Other Documents 
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    Artzner, Philippe, Freddy Delbaen, Jean-Marc Eber, and David Heath, 1999, “Coherent measures of risk,” Mathematical Finance 9, 208-223. www.math.ethz.ch/˜delbaen/ftp/preprints/CoherentMF.pdf     Duffie, Darrell, and Jun Pan, 1997, “An overview of value at risk,” The Journal of Derivatives, Vol. 4, No. 3 (Spring) pp. 7-49.     *Berkowitz, Jeremy and James O&#39;Brien, “How Accurate are Value-at-Risk Models at Commercial Banks?”, Journal of Finance  57 , No 3, 1093-1111.     Estimating Value at Risks for Short and Long Trading Positions http://www.eco.fundp.ac.be/cerefim/varpaper/200200. %20(Sriananth akumar %20 and %20Silvapulle)-Estimating %20VaR %20for %20Long %20 and %20Short %20Trading %20Position s.pdf     Granger, C. and S.-H. Poon (2002), Forecasting Volatility in Financial Markets: A Review, September.     Allayannis, George, and James P. Weston, “The Use of Foreign Currency Derivatives and Firm Market Value,” The Review of Financial Studies, Spring 2001, 243-276. http://faculty.darden.virginia.edu/allayannisy/ATT148761.pdf     “subscribe to risk” exact phrase search using the following Google URL: http://www.google.com/search?q=+%22subscribe+to+risk %22&amp;num=100&amp; hl=en&amp;lr=&amp;as_qdr=all&amp;start=100&amp;sa=N     Security Futures OCC Operational Overview http://www.optionsclearing.com/initiatives/security_futures/secu rity_futures_overview.jsp     Lexis Nexis® Risk Management Solutions http://www.lexisnexis.com/risksolutions/management/Default. asp     EGAR Technology, Inc. http://www.egartech.com/company_sum.asp     About Us     http://www.riskdataflow.com    
 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0052]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0053]     The invention relates generally to processes for customizing, renting, purchasing, manufacturing, and intermediating risk and/or volatility products in particular but not limited (i.e. the invention also relates to gene sequencing and weather) to the following areas:  
         [0054]     a. Customizable Electronic Works,  
         [0055]     b. Remote Renting and/or Purchasing,  
         [0056]     c. Automated Manufacturing and Ordering over the Internet,  
         [0057]     d. Accessing Investment Information and Analysis,  
         [0058]     e. Displaying Investment Information and Analysis,  
         [0059]     f. Automated Analysis for Financial Assets,  
         [0060]     g. Automated Volatility Analysis for Financial Assets,  
         [0061]     h. Risk Management Systems,  
         [0062]     i. Strategic and Financial Planning Systems,  
         [0063]     j. Real Estate Systems,  
         [0064]     j. Insurance/Retirement Systems, and  
         [0065]     k. Credit Systems.  
         [0066]     l. Misc.  
         [0067]     m. Advantages of the present invention  
         [0068]     2. Description of Related Art  
         [0069]     a. Customizable Electronic Works  
         [0070]     Customizing electronic works, is well known to the art. For example, by Cook, et al., “Personal digital content system,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,842,604 (Jan. 11, 2005), Burson, et al., “System and method for automated access to personal information,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,405,245 (Jun. 11, 2002), Zirngibl, et al., Zirngibl, et al., “System and method for the creation and automatic deployment of personalized, dynamic and interactive voice services, including deployment through digital sound files,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,606,596 (Aug. 12, 2003), and Eberle, et al., “System and method for the creation and automatic deployment of personalized dynamic and interactive voice services,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,850,603 (Feb. 1, 2005), each of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety, related to customizable electronic works. None of these references, however, provides for provide for electronic work customization, automatic electronic work manufacturing, and the data administration of the present invention. This prior art does not provide for risk and/or volatility product customization, automatic risk and/or volatility product manufacturing, risk and/or volatility product purchasing and/or rental, risk and/or volatility product intermediating, risk and/or volatility product display and data administration/integration of the present invention.  
         [0071]     b. Remote Renting and/or Purchasing  
         [0072]     Remote Renting and/or Purchasing, is well known to the art. For example, Bernard, et al., “System and method for automated remote previewing and purchasing of music, video, software, and other multimedia electronic works,” U.S. Pat. No. 5,918,213 (Jun. 29, 1999), Hastings, “Method and apparatus for renting items,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,584,450 (Jun. 24, 2003), Green, et al., “Remote ordering system,” U.S. Pat. No. 5,664,110 (Sep. 2, 1997), each of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety, related to automated remote and/or purchasing. None of these references, however, provides for risk and/or volatility product customization, automatic risk and/or volatility product manufacturing, risk and/or volatility product purchasing and/or rental, risk and/or volatility product intermediating, risk and/or volatility product display and data administration/integration of the present invention.  
         [0073]     c. Automated Manufacturing and Ordering over the Internet  
         [0074]     Providing an automated process and a system for ordering and manufacturing personalized electronic works over the Internet, is well known to the art, such as the one described by Lemchen, “Automated customized remote ordering and manufacturing process,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,594,642 (Jul. 15, 2003) incorporated herein by reference. This prior work does not provide for risk and/or volatility product customization, automatic risk and/or volatility product manufacturing, risk and/or volatility product purchasing and/or rental, risk and/or volatility product intermediating, risk and/or volatility product display and data administration/integration of the present invention.  
         [0075]     d. Accessing Investment Information and Analysis  
         [0076]     Several patents have been issued in accessing investment information and analysis. For example, by Galant, et al., “Method and system for providing financial information and evaluating securities of a financial debt instrument,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,839,686 (Aug. 19, 2003), and Hastings, “Automated system and method for customized and personalized presentation of products and services of a financial institution,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,349,290 (Feb. 19, 2002) each of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety, related to accessing investment information and analysis. None of these references, however, provides for risk and/or volatility product customization, automatic risk and/or volatility product manufacturing, risk and/or volatility product purchasing and/or rental, risk and/or volatility product intermediating, risk and/or volatility product display and data administration/integration of the present invention.  
         [0077]     e. Displaying Investment Information and Analysis  
         [0078]     Several patents have been issued in displaying investment information and analysis. For example, by Gatto, et al., “Security analyst estimates performance viewing system and method,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,681,211 (Jan. 20, 2004), Impink, Jr., “Display apparatus,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,211,880 (Apr. 13, 1998), Stewart, “Volatility plot and volatility alert for display of time series data,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,195,103 (Nov. 18, 1997), Stewart, “User interface for a financial advisory system,” U.S. Pat. No. 5,918,217 (Nov. 18, 1997), and Escher, “Method for chart markup and annotation in technical analysis,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,801,201 (Dec. 17, 2002), each of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety, related to displaying investment information and analysis. None of these references, however, provides for risk and/or volatility product customization, automatic risk and/or volatility product manufacturing, risk and/or volatility product purchasing and/or rental, risk and/or volatility product intermediating, risk and/or volatility product display and data administration/integration of the present invention.  
         [0079]     f. Automated Analysis for Financial Assets  
         [0080]     Several patents have been issued in automated analysis for financial assets. For example, by Burfield, et al., “Object-based numeric-analysis engine,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,298,334 (Oct. 2, 2001) and Li, “Automated analysis for financial assets,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,453,303 (Sep. 17, 2002), each of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety, related to automated analysis for financial assets. None of these references, however, provides for risk and/or volatility product customization, automatic risk and/or volatility product manufacturing, risk and/or volatility product purchasing and/or rental, risk and/or volatility product intermediating, risk and/or volatility product display and data administration/integration of the present invention.  
         [0081]     g. Automated Volatility Analysis for Financial Assets  
         [0082]     Several patents have been issued in automated volatility analysis for financial assets. For example, Pang, et al., “Apparatus and method of pricing financial derivatives,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,546,375 (Apr. 8, 2003), Mathews, et al., “Systems, methods and computer program products for performing a generalized contingent claim valuation,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,862,579 (Aug. 19, 2003), Bekaert, et al., Kant, et al., “System and method for financial instrument modeling and using Monte Carlo simulation,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,772,136 (Aug. 3, 2004), and Makivic, “Simulation method and system for the valuation of derivative financial instruments,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,061,662 (May 9, 2000), each of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety, related to automated volatility analysis for financial assets. None of these references, however, provides for risk and/or volatility product customization, automatic risk and/or volatility product manufacturing, risk and/or volatility product purchasing and/or rental, risk and/or volatility product intermediating, risk and/or volatility product display and data administration/integration of the present invention.  
         [0083]     h. Risk Management Systems  
         [0084]     Several patents have been issued in risk management systems. For example, Greener, et al., “Enhanced online sales risk management system,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,829,590 (Dec. 7, 2004), Irving, et al., “System and method for proactively monitoring risk exposure,” U.S. Pat. No. 5,991,743 (Nov. 23, 1999), Tom, “System and method for performing risk and credit analysis of financial service applications,” U.S. Pat. No. 5,696,907 (Dec. 9, 1997), Basch, et al., “Financial risk prediction systems and methods therefor,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,119,103 (Sep. 12, 2000), Smith, II, et al., “Methods and apparatus for collateral risk monitoring,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,850,643 (Feb. 1, 2005), each of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety, related to risk management systems. None of these references, however, provides for risk and/or volatility product customization, automatic risk and/or volatility product manufacturing, risk and/or volatility product purchasing and/or rental, risk and/or volatility product intermediating, risk and/or volatility product display and data administration/integration of the present invention.  
         [0085]     h. Strategic Planning, Financial Planning, and/or Portfolio Systems  
         [0086]     Several patents have been issued in strategic planning, financial planning, and/or portfolio systems. For example, DeTore, et al., “Automated decision-making arrangement,” U.S. Pat. No. 5,732,397 (Mar. 24, 1998), Honarvar, et al., “Decision management system with automated strategy optimization,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,708,155 (Mar. 16, 2004), Bernheim, et al., “Economic security planning method and system,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,611,807 (Aug. 26, 2003), DiCresce, “Method and apparatus that processes financial data relating to wealth accumulation plans,” U.S. Pat. No. 5,991,744 (Nov. 23, 1999), Scott, et al., “Enhancing utility and diversifying model risk in a portfolio optimization framework,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,292,787 (Sep. 18, 2001), Robinson, “Automated portfolio selection system,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,484,152 (Aug. 28, 2001), each of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety related to planning, financial planning, and/or portfolio systems. None of these references, however, provides for risk and/or volatility product customization, automatic risk and/or volatility product manufacturing, risk and/or volatility product purchasing and/or rental, risk and/or volatility product intermediating, risk and/or volatility product display and data administration/integration of the present invention.  
         [0087]     i. Real Estate Systems  
         [0088]     Several patents have been issued in real estate systems, and/or portfolio systems. For example, Jost, et al., “Real estate appraisal using predictive modeling,” U.S. Pat. No. 5,361,201 (Nov. 1, 1994) and Rothstein, “Real estate appraisal using predictive modeling,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,058,369 (May 2, 2000), each of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety, related to real estate systems. None of these references, however, provides for risk and/or volatility product customization, automatic risk and/or volatility product manufacturing, risk and/or volatility product purchasing and/or rental, risk and/or volatility product intermediating, risk and/or volatility product display and data administration/integration of the present invention.  
         [0089]     i. Insurance/Retirement Systems  
         [0090]     Several patents have been issued in insurance and/or retirement systems. For example, Schoen, et al., “Computer apparatus and method for defined contribution and profit sharing pension and disability plan,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,235,176 (May 22, 2001) Schirripa, “Computer system and methods for management, and control of annuities and distribution of annuity payments,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,275,807 (Aug. 14, 2001) Lewis, et al., “Method and system for providing account values in an annuity with life contingencies,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,611,815 (Aug. 26, 2003), each of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety, related to insurance and/or retirement systems. None of these references, however, provides for risk and/or volatility product customization, automatic risk and/or volatility product manufacturing, risk and/or volatility product purchasing and/or rental, risk and/or volatility product intermediating, risk and/or volatility product display and data administration/integration of the present invention.  
         [0091]     j. Credit Systems  
         [0092]     Several patents have been issued in credit systems. For example, Saladin, et al., “Expert credit recommendation method and system,” U.S. Pat. No. 5,262,941 (Nov. 16, 1993), Lebda, et al., “Method and computer network for co-ordinating a loan over the internet,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,385,594 (May 7, 2002), and Aziz, et al., “Method and system for improved collateral monitoring and control,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,018,721 (Jan. 25, 2000), each of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety, related to credit systems. None of these references, however, provides for risk and/or volatility product customization, automatic risk and/or volatility product manufacturing, risk and/or volatility product purchasing and/or rental, risk and/or volatility product intermediating, risk and/or volatility product display and data administration/integration of the present invention.  
         [0093]     j. Financial Information Intermediary System  
         [0094]     Financial information intermediary system, is well known to the art. For example, by Motoyama, “Financial information intermediary system,” U.S. Pat. No. 5,913,202 (Jun. 15, 1999), which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety, related to credit systems, related to financial information intermediary system. None of these references, however, provides for risk and/or volatility product customization, automatic risk and/or volatility product manufacturing, risk and/or volatility product purchasing and/or rental, risk and/or volatility product intermediating, risk and/or volatility product display and data administration/integration of the present invention.  
         [0095]     Institutional Banking and Existing Online Risk Applications  
         [0096]     Several commercial applications have been disclosed. For example, Lexis Nexis Risk Management Solutions has disclosed a one-click access to a comprehensive range of investigation, due diligence, and fraud prevention solutions—all from a single Web page. EGAR&#39;s free and/or non-customized products FOCUS, EGAR ONE, EGAR ETS, EGAR Dispersion ASP and IVolatility data services, each of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety, related to existing commercial applications. None of these references, however, provides for risk and/or volatility product customization, automatic risk and/or volatility product manufacturing, risk and/or volatility product purchasing and/or rental, risk and/or volatility product intermediating, risk and/or volatility product display and data administration/integration of the present invention. Several institutional applications have been disclosed. For example, Security Futures OCC Operation the Options Clearing Corporation (“OCC”) has disclosed a system modifications for the trading of Single Stock and Narrow Based Index Futures (security futures). Martyn, et al. “On-line transaction processing system for security trading,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,195,647 (Feb. 27, 2001) and Musmanno, et al. “Securities brokerage-cash management system,” U.S. Pat. No. 4,376,978 (Mar. 15, 1983). None of these references, however, provides for risk and/or volatility product customization, automatic risk and/or volatility product manufacturing, risk and/or volatility product purchasing and/or rental, risk and/or volatility product intermediating, risk and/or volatility product display and data administration/integration of the present invention.  
         [0097]     m. Advantages of the Present Invention  
         [0098]     This invention discloses a method and apparatus for renting, customizing, producing, intermediating, and delivering one or more element selected from a group comprising of as means for measuring, monitoring, and/or displaying “liquidity risk,” means for measuring, monitoring, and/or displaying “settlement risk,” means for measuring, monitoring, and/or displaying “operational risk,” means for measuring, monitoring, and/or displaying “credit risk,” and means for measuring, monitoring, and/or displaying “systematic risk,” means for measuring, monitoring, and/or displaying “historical volatility,” and/or means for measuring, monitoring, and/or displaying “implied volatility,” and/or means for measuring, monitoring, and/or displaying “FX” and means for measuring, monitoring, and/or displaying “FX options,” and means for measuring, monitoring, and/or displaying “Margin trading,” and means for measuring, monitoring, and/or displaying “Fixed Income,” and means for measuring, monitoring, and/or displaying “Interest rate derivatives,” and means for measuring, monitoring, and/or displaying “Energy derivatives,” and means for measuring, monitoring, and/or displaying “Commodity and Metals trading and derivatives and Equity trading,” 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0099]     According to one aspect of the invention, a method is provided for renting, customizing, and delivering risk and/or volatility products to customers on a subscription basis. Up to a specified number of risk and/or volatility products are provided to the customer. In response to one or more risk and/or volatility product delivery criteria being satisfied (such as the payment of a specified fee), one or more other risk and/or volatility products are provided to the customer, wherein a total current one or more risk and/or volatility products provided to the customer can only be used during a specified time.  
         [0100]     According to one aspect of the invention, a method is provided for renting, customizing, and delivering risk and/or volatility products to customers. Up to a specified number of risk and/or volatility products are provided to the customer. In response to one or more risk and/or volatility product delivery criteria being satisfied (such as the payment of a specified fee), one or more other risk and/or volatility products are provided to the customer, wherein a total current one or more risk and/or volatility products provided to the customer can only be used during a specified time.  
         [0101]     According to another of the invention, a computer-implemented method is provided for renting, customizing, and delivering risk and/or volatility products to customers. According to the method, one or more risk and/or volatility product selection criteria are received that indicate one or more risk and/or volatility products that a customer desires to rent. Up to a specified number of the one or more risk and/or volatility products indicated by the one or more risk and/or volatility product selection criteria are provided to the customer. In response to one or more risk and/or volatility product delivery criteria being satisfied (such as the payment of a specified fee), one or more other risk and/or volatility products are provided to the customer, wherein a total current one or more risk and/or volatility products provided to the customer can only be used during a specified time.  
         [0102]     According to another aspect of the invention, a computer-implemented method is provided for renting, customizing, and delivering risk and/or volatility products to customers. According to the method, one or more risk and/or volatility product selection criteria are received that indicate one or more risk and/or volatility products that a customer desires to rent. Up to a specified number of the one or more risk and/or volatility products indicated by the one or more risk and/or volatility product selection criteria are provided to the customer. In response to one or more risk and/or volatility product delivery criteria being satisfied (such as the payment of a specified fee), one or more other risk and/or volatility products are provided to the customer, wherein a total current one or more risk and/or volatility products provided to the customer can only be used during a specified time.  
         [0103]     According to another aspect of the invention, a method is provided for renting, customizing, and delivering risk and/or volatility products to customers. Up to a specified number of risk and/or volatility products are provided to the customer. In response to one or more risk and/or volatility product delivery criteria being satisfied (such as the payment of a specified fee), one or more other risk and/or volatility products are provided to the customer, wherein a total current one or more risk and/or volatility products provided to the customer can only be used during a specified time.  
         [0104]     According to another aspect of the invention, a method is provided for renting, customizing, and delivering one or more element selected from a group comprising of means for measuring, monitoring, and/or displaying “historical volatility,” and/or means for measuring, monitoring, and/or displaying “implied volatility” to customers. Up to a specified number of risk and/or volatility products are provided to the customer. In response to one or more said group product delivery criteria being satisfied (such as the payment of a specified fee), one or more other risk and/or volatility products are provided to the customer, wherein a total current one or more risk and/or volatility products provided to the customer can only be used during a specified time.  
         [0105]     According to another aspect of the invention, a method is provided for renting, customizing, and delivering one or more element selected from a group comprising of means for measuring, monitoring, and/or displaying “liquidity risk,” means for measuring, monitoring, and/or displaying “settlement risk,” means for measuring, monitoring, and/or displaying “operational risk,” means for measuring, monitoring, and/or displaying “credit risk,” and means for measuring, monitoring, and/or displaying “systematic risk” to customers. Up to a specified number of risk and/or volatility products are provided to the customer. In response to one or more said group product delivery criteria being satisfied (such as the payment of a specified fee), one or more other risk and/or volatility products are provided to the customer, wherein a total current one or more risk and/or volatility products provided to the customer can only be used during a specified time.  
         [0106]     According to another aspect of the invention, a method is provided for renting, customizing, and delivering one or more element selected from a group comprising of means for measuring, monitoring, and/or displaying “liquidity risk,” means for measuring, monitoring, and/or displaying “settlement risk,” means for measuring, monitoring, and/or displaying “operational risk,” means for measuring, monitoring, and/or displaying “credit risk,” and means for measuring, monitoring, and/or displaying “systematic risk” to customers.  
         [0107]     According to another aspect of the invention, a method is provided for renting, customizing, and delivering one or more element selected from a group comprising of means for measuring, monitoring, and/or displaying “FX” and means for measuring, monitoring, and/or displaying “FX options,” and means for measuring, monitoring, and/or displaying “Margin trading,” and means for measuring, monitoring, and/or displaying “Fixed Income,” and means for measuring, monitoring, and/or displaying “Interest rate derivatives,” and means for measuring, monitoring, and/or displaying “Energy derivatives,” and means for measuring, monitoring, and/or displaying “Commodity and Metals trading and derivatives and Equity trading.” 
         [0108]     Up to a specified number of risk and/or volatility products are provided to the customer. In response to one or more said group product delivery criteria being satisfied (such as the payment of a specified fee), one or more other risk and/or volatility products are provided to the customer, wherein a total current one or more risk and/or volatility products provided to the customer can only be used during a specified time.  
         [0109]     According to another aspect of the invention, a computer-implemented method is provided for renting one or more element selected from a group comprising of means for measuring, monitoring, and/or displaying “historical volatility,” and/or means for measuring, monitoring, and/or displaying “implied volatility” to customers. According to the method, one or more said group selection criteria are received from a customer that indicates one or more risk and or volatility products that the customer desires to rent. Up to a specified number of the one or more said indicated by the one or more risk and/or volatility selection criteria are provided to the customer. In response to one or more risk and/or volatility product delivery criteria being satisfied (such as the payment of a specified fee), one or more other risk and/or volatility products are provided to the customer, wherein a total current one or more risk and/or volatility products provided to the customer can only be used during a specified time.  
         [0110]     According to another aspect of the invention, a computer-implemented method is provided for renting one or more element selected from a group comprising of means for measuring, monitoring, and/or displaying “liquidity risk,” means for measuring, monitoring, and/or displaying “settlement risk,” means for measuring, monitoring, and/or displaying “operational risk,” means for measuring, monitoring, and/or displaying “credit risk,” and means for measuring, monitoring, and/or displaying “systematic risk” to customers. According to the method, one or more said group selection criteria are received from a customer that indicates one or more risk and or volatility products that the customer desires to rent. Up to a specified number of the one or more said indicated by the one or more risk and/or volatility product selection criteria are provided to the customer. In response to one or more risk and/or volatility product delivery criteria being satisfied (such as the payment of a specified fee), one or more other risk and/or volatility products are provided to the customer, wherein a total current one or more risk and/or volatility products provided to the customer can only be used during a specified time.  
         [0111]     According to another aspect of the invention, an apparatus for renting, customizing, and delivering risk and/or volatility products risk and/or volatility products to customers is provided. The apparatus comprises one or more processors and a memory communicatively coupled to the one or more processors. The memory includes one or more sequences of one or more instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform several steps. First, one or more risk and/or volatility product selection criteria are received that indicate one or more risk and/or volatility products that a customer desires to rent. Up to a specified number of the one or more risk and/or volatility products indicated by the one or more risk and/or volatility product selection criteria are provided to the customer. Finally, in response to one or more risk and/or volatility product delivery criteria being satisfied (such as the payment of a specified fee), one or more other risk and/or volatility products are provided to the customer, wherein a total current one or more risk and/or volatility products provided to the customer can only be used during a specified time.  
         [0112]     According to another aspect of the invention, an apparatus is provided for renting, customizing, and delivering risk and/or volatility products to customers. The apparatus comprises a risk and/or volatility product rental mechanism configured to receive one or more risk and/or volatility product selection criteria that indicate one or more risk and/or volatility products that a customer desires to rent. The risk and/or volatility product rental mechanism is also configured to provide to the customer up to a specified number of the one or more risk and/or volatility products indicated by the one or more risk and/or volatility product selection criteria. Finally, the risk and/or volatility product rental mechanism is configured to in response to one or more risk and/or volatility product delivery criteria being satisfied (such as the payment of a specified fee), one or more other risk and/or volatility products are provided to the customer, wherein a total current one or more risk and/or volatility products provided to the customer can only be used during a specified time.  
         [0113]     In the foregoing specification, the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments thereof. However, various modifications and changes may be made thereto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative sense rather than a restrictive sense.  
         [0114]     Many modifications and alterations may be made by those having ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, it must be understood that the embodiment illustrations has been set forth only for the purposes of example and that it should not be taken as limiting the invention as defined by the following claims. For example, notwithstanding the fact that the elements of a claim are set forth below in an obvious combination, it must be expressly understood that the invention includes other combinations of fewer, more or different elements, which are disclosed in above even when not initially claimed in such combinations.  
         [0115]     The claims are thus to be taught to include what is specifically illustrated and described above, what is an equivalent concept, what can be obviously substituted and also what essentially incorporates the essential idea of the invention. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING  
       [0116]     Embodiments of the invention are illustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings and in which like reference numerals refer to similar elements and in which:  
         [0117]      FIG. 1  is a diagram depicting an approach for renting risk and/or volatility products to customers according to an embodiment.  
         [0118]      FIG. 2  is a flow diagram depicting an approach for renting risk and/or volatility products to customers according to an embodiment.  
         [0119]      FIG. 3  is a flow diagram depicting a “Specific Time Limit” approach for renting risk and/or volatility products to customers according to an embodiment.  
         [0120]      FIG. 4  is a flow diagram depicting a “Negotiated Time Limit with Intermediate” approach for renting risk and/or volatility products to customers according to an embodiment.  
         [0121]      FIG. 5  is a diagram depicting an approach for renting risk and/or volatility products to customers over the Internet according to an embodiment.  
         [0122]      FIG. 6  is a flow diagram illustrating an approach for renting risk and/or volatility products to customers over the Internet using both “Specific Time Limit” and “Negotiated Time Limit with Intermediate” according to an embodiment; and  
         [0123]      FIG. 7  is a block diagram of a data processing system upon which embodiments of the invention may be implemented.  
         [0124]      FIG. 8  is a block diagram of a risk and/or volatility product producer system upon which embodiments of the invention may be implemented. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0125]     In the following description, reference will now be made in detail to the presently preferred embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Well-known structures and devices are depicted in block diagram form in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the invention. Yet, it will be apparent that the invention may be practiced without these specific details.  
         [0126]     Various aspects and features of example embodiments of the invention are described in more detail hereinafter in the following sections: (1) utilitarian overview; (2) risk and/or volatility products selection criteria; (3) risk and/or volatility products delivery; (4) “Specific Time Limit”; (5) “Negotiated Time Limit with Intermediate”; (6) register management; (7) implementation equipment, and (8) provider services.  
         [0127]     1. Utilitarian Overview  
         [0128]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram  100  that illustrates an approach for renting risk and/or volatility products to customers according to various embodiments described herein. As used herein, the term “risk and/or volatility product” refers to any commercial risk and/or volatility measurement and/or monitoring electronic work that can be rented to customers. Examples of risk and/or volatility products include means for measuring and/or monitoring credit risk, liquidity risk, settlement risk, operational risk, and systematic risk, and/or means for measuring and/or monitoring historical volatility and implied volatility stored on a non-volatile memory such as a tape, other magnetic medium, optical medium, read-only memory or the like, and the invention is not limited to any particular type of risk and/or volatility product. In general, the decision of what risk and/or volatility products to rent is separated from the decision of when to rent the risk and/or volatility products. Customers may specify what risk and/or volatility products to rent using one or more risk and/or volatility product selection criteria separate from deciding when to receive the specified risk and/or volatility products. Furthermore, customers are not constrained by conventional rental “shopping carts” and instead can have continuous, serialized rental of risk and/or volatility products.  
         [0129]     According to one embodiment, a customer  140  provides one or more risk and/or volatility product selection criteria to a provider  120  over a link  110 . Link  110  may be any medium for transferring data between customer  140  and provider  120 .  
         [0130]     The risk and/or volatility product selection criteria indicate risk and/or volatility products that customer  140  desires to rent from provider  120 . In response to receiving the risk and/or volatility product selection criteria from customer  140 , provider  120  provides the risk and/or volatility products indicated by the risk and/or volatility product selection criteria to customer  140  over a delivery channel  120 . Delivery channel  120  may be implemented by any mechanism or medium that provides for the transfer of risk and/or volatility products from provider  120  to customer  140  and the invention is not limited to any particular type of delivery channel. Examples of delivery channel  120  include delivery using the Internet. Provider  120  may be centralized or distributed depending upon the requirements of a particular application.  
         [0131]     According to an embodiment, a “Specific Time Limit” approach allows up to a specified number of risk and/or volatility products to be rented simultaneously to customer  140  by provider  120 . According to another embodiment, a “Negotiated Time Limit with Intermediate” approach allows up to a specified number of risk and/or volatility product exchanges to occur during a specified period of time. The “Specific Time Limit” and “Negotiated Time Limit with Intermediate” approaches may be used together or separately with a variety of subscription methodologies.  
         [0132]     The approach just described for renting risk and/or volatility products to customers is now described with reference to a flow diagram  200  of  FIG. 2 . After starting in step  202 , in step  204 , customer  140  creates risk and/or volatility product selection criteria. In step  206 , customer  140  provides the risk and/or volatility product selection criteria to provider  120 . In step  208 , in response to provider  120  receiving the risk and/or volatility product selection criteria from customer  140 , provider  120  provides one or more risk and/or volatility products indicated by the risk and/or volatility product selection criteria to customer  140 . The process is complete in step  210 .  
         [0133]     2. Risk and/or Volatility Product Selection Criteria  
         [0134]     The one or more risk and/or volatility product selection criteria provided by customer  140  to provider  120  indicate the particular risk and/or volatility products that customer  140  desires to rent from provider  120 . Thus, the risk and/or volatility product selection criteria define a customer-specific order queue that is fulfilled by provider  120 . According to one embodiment, the risk and/or volatility product selection criteria specify attributes of risk and/or volatility products to be provided by provider  120  to customer  140 . Risk and/or volatility product selection criteria may specify any type of risk and/or volatility product attributes and the invention is not limited to particular risk and/or volatility product attributes. Examples of risk and/or volatility product attributes include, without limitation, identifier attributes, type attributes and cost attributes. Risk and/or volatility product selection criteria may be changed at any time to reflect changes in risk and/or volatility products that customers desire to rent from a provider.  
         [0135]     3. Risk and/or Volatility Product Delivery  
         [0136]     According to one embodiment, risk and/or volatility products are delivered by provider  120  to customer  140  over delivery channel  120  based upon risk and/or volatility product delivery criteria. More specifically, the delivery of risk and/or volatility products from provider  120  to customer  140  is triggered by risk and/or volatility product delivery criteria being satisfied. The risk and/or volatility product delivery criteria may include a wide range of Internet delivery criteria and the invention is not limited to any particular risk and/or volatility product delivery criteria. Examples of risk and/or volatility product delivery criteria include, without limitation, customer messaging, customer web services, customer remote method invocation, customer p2p, and customer email.  
         [0137]     The risk and/or volatility product delivery criteria may be specified by customer  140  to provider  120  or negotiated by customer  140  and provider  120  as part of a subscription service. For example, a particular subscription service may include risk and/or volatility product delivery criteria that specifies that a particular number of risk and/or volatility products are to be delivered monthly. As another example, risk and/or volatility product delivery criteria may specify that an initial set of risk and/or volatility products is to be delivered by provider  120  to customer  140  upon initiation of a subscription service and that additional risk and/or volatility products are to be delivered to customer  140  upon return of risk and/or volatility products to provider  120 . Risk and/or volatility product delivery criteria may be applied uniformly to all risk and/or volatility products to be delivered to a customer, or may be risk and/or volatility product specific. For example, risk and/or volatility product delivery criteria may specify a particular date, i.e., the third Wednesday of every month, for all risk and/or volatility product deliveries. Alternatively, separate risk and/or volatility product delivery dates may be assigned to each risk and/or volatility product.  
         [0138]     4. “Specific Time Limit” 
         [0139]     According to one embodiment, a “Specific Time Limit” approach is used to manage the number of risk and/or volatility products that may be simultaneously rented to customers. According to the “Specific Time Limit” approach, up to a specified number of risk and/or volatility products may be rented simultaneously to a customer. Thus, the “Specific Time Limit” approach establishes the size of an register of risk and/or volatility products that may be maintained by customers. The specified number of risk and/or volatility products may be specific to each customer or may be common to one or more customers. In the present example, if the specified number of risk and/or volatility products is nine, then up to nine risk and/or volatility products may be rented simultaneously by provider  120  to customer  140 . If the specified number of risk and/or volatility products are currently rented to customer  140  and the specified risk and/or volatility product delivery criteria triggers the delivery of one or more additional risk and/or volatility products, then those risk and/or volatility products are not delivered until one or more risk and/or volatility products are returned by customer  140  to provider  120 .  
         [0140]     According to one embodiment, in situations where the specified number of risk and/or volatility products are currently rented to customer  140  and the specified risk and/or volatility product delivery criteria triggers the delivery of one or more additional risk and/or volatility products, then the one or more additional risk and/or volatility products are delivered to customer  140  and customer  140  and a surcharge is applied customer  140 . The specified number of risk and/or volatility products may then be increased thereafter to reflect the additional risk and/or volatility products delivered to customer  140  and increase the size of the register maintained by customer  140 . Alternatively, the specified number of risk and/or volatility products may remain the same and number of risk and/or volatility products maintained by customer  140  returned to the prior level after risk and/or volatility products are returned to provider  120  by customer  140 . When used in conjunction with the “Negotiated Time Limit with Intermediate” approach described hereinafter, the specified number of risk and/or volatility products may be unlimited.  
         [0141]     The “Specific Time Limit” approach for managing the number of risk and/or volatility products that may be simultaneously rented to customers is now described with reference to a flow diagram  300  of  FIG. 3 . After starting in step  302 , in step  304 , one or more initial risk and/or volatility products are delivered to customer  140  to establish the register maintained by customer  140 . Note that an initial delivery of risk and/or volatility products is not required and according to one embodiment, the register of customer  140  is incrementally established over time.  
         [0142]     In step  306 , a determination is made whether the risk and/or volatility product delivery criteria have been satisfied. If not, then the determination continues to be made until the risk and/or volatility product delivery criteria are satisfied. As described previously herein, the delivery criteria may include customer notification generally, customer notification that an risk and/or volatility product is being returned, the actual return of an risk and/or volatility product, the occurrence of a specific date, or that a specified amount of time has elapsed.  
         [0143]     Once the risk and/or volatility product delivery criteria are satisfied, then in step  308 , a determination is made whether the specified number of risk and/or volatility products have been delivered. If not, then control returns to step  304  and one or more additional risk and/or volatility products are delivered by provider  120  to customer  140 . If however, in step  308 , the specified number of risk and/or volatility products have been delivered, then in step  310 , a determination is made whether the specified number of risk and/or volatility products, i.e., the “Specific Time Limit” limit, is to be overridden. As previously described, the specified number of risk and/or volatility products may be overridden by increasing the specified number of risk and/or volatility products, i.e., the “Specific Time Limit” limit, to allow additional risk and/or volatility products to be delivered to customer  140  and charging a fee to customer  140 . Alternatively, the specified number of risk and/or volatility products is not changed and a surcharge applied to customer  140 . This process continues for the duration of the subscription and is then complete in step  310 .  
         [0144]     5. “Negotiated Time Limit with Intermediate” 
         [0145]     According to one embodiment, a “Negotiated Time Limit with Intermediate” approach is used to rent risk and/or volatility products to customers. According to the “Negotiated Time Limit with Intermediate” approach, up to a specified number of risk and/or volatility product exchanges may be performed during a specified period of time. For example, referring to  FIG. 1 , suppose that provider  120  agrees to rent risk and/or volatility products to customer  140  with a “Negotiated Time Limit with Intermediate” limit of nine risk and/or volatility products per month. This means that customer  140  may make up to nine risk and/or volatility product exchanges per month. This approach may be implemented independent of the number of risk and/or volatility products that a customer may have rented at any given time under the “Specific Time Limit” approach. The approach is also independent of the particular risk and/or volatility product delivery criteria used.  
         [0146]     According to one embodiment, the “Negotiated Time Limit with Intermediate” approach is implemented in combination with the “Specific Time Limit” approach to rent risk and/or volatility products to customers. In this situation, up to a specified number of total risk and/or volatility products are simultaneously rented to customer  140  and up to a specified number of risk and/or volatility product exchanges may be made during a specified period of time. Thus, using the “Specific Time Limit” and the “Negotiated Time Limit with Intermediate” approaches together essentially establishes a personal risk and/or volatility product register for customer  140  based upon the “Specific Time Limit” limit that may be periodically refreshed based upon the “Negotiated Time Limit with Intermediate” limit selected.  
         [0147]     In some situations, customer  140  may wish to exchange more than the specified number of risk and/or volatility products during a specified period. According to one embodiment, in this situation, provider  120  agrees to rent additional risk and/or volatility products above the specified number to customer  140  and to charge customer  140  for the additional risk and/or volatility products. For example, suppose that provider  120  agrees to rent risk and/or volatility products to customer  140  with up to nine risk and/or volatility product turns (exchanges) per month. If, in a particular month, customer  140  requires two additional turns, then the two additional risk and/or volatility products are provided to customer  140  and a surcharge is applied to customer  140  for the additional two risk and/or volatility products.  
         [0148]     In other situations, customer  140  may not use all of its allotted turns during a specified period. According to one embodiment, customers lose unused turns during a subscription period. For example, if customer  140  has a “Negotiated Time Limit with Intermediate” limit of four risk and/or volatility product exchanges per month and only makes two risk and/or volatility product exchanges in a particular month, then the two unused exchanges are lost and cannot be used. At the start of the next month, customer  140  would be entitled to four new risk and/or volatility product exchanges.  
         [0149]     According to another embodiment, customers are allowed to carry over unused turns to subsequent subscription periods. For example, if customer  140  has a “Negotiated Time Limit with Intermediate” limit of four risk and/or volatility product exchanges per month and only makes two risk and/or volatility product exchanges in a particular month, then the two unused exchanges are lost and cannot be used. At the start of the next month, customer  140  would be entitled to six new risk and/or volatility product exchanges, two from the prior month and four for the current month.  
         [0150]     The “Negotiated Time Limit with Intermediate” approach for renting risk and/or volatility products to customers is now described with reference to a flow diagram  400  of  FIG. 4 . After starting in step  401 , in step  404 , customer  140  and provider  120  agree upon the terms of the “Negotiated Time Limit with Intermediate” agreement. Specifically, customer  140  and provider  120  negotiate a time limit.  
         [0151]     In step  405 , in response to risk product being provided within terms of time limit, provider  120  provides one or more risk and/or volatility products to customer  140  over delivery channel  120 . Any type of risk and/or volatility product delivery criteria may be used with the “Negotiated Time Limit with Intermediate” approach and the invention is not limited to any particular delivery criteria. For example, the initial one or more risk and/or volatility products may be delivered to customer  140  in response to a subscription payment made by customer  140  to provider  120 , the initiation of a specified subscription period, or by request of customer  140  for the initial rental risk and/or volatility products. The availabilty of initial one or more risk and/or volatility products must not exceed the terms of the “Negotiated Time Limit with Intermediate” agreement.  
         [0152]     In step  408 , in response to one or more delivery criteria being satisfied, a determination is made whether additional risk and/or volatility products can be provided to customer  140  within the terms of the “Negotiated Time Limit with Intermediate” agreement. For example, if the number of risk and/or volatility products rented to customer in the current subscription period is less than the agreed-upon “Negotiated Time Limit with Intermediate,” then additional risk and/or volatility products can be rented to customer  140  within the terms of the “Negotiated Time Limit with Intermediate” agreement. In this situation, this determination may be made in response to customer  140  returning one or more risk and/or volatility products to provider  120 , or by customer  140  requesting additional risk and/or volatility products.  
         [0153]     If, in step  405 , a determination is made that additional risk and/or volatility products can be rented to customer  140  within the terms of the “Terms of a Time Limit” agreement, then control returns to step  406  where one or more additional risk and/or volatility products are delivered to customer  140 . If however, in step  404 , a determination is made that customer  140  AND provider  120  CANNOT NEGOTITATE A TIME LIMIT AGREEMENT, then in step  403 , a determination is made whether to override the current agreement terms. If so, then in step  403 , the agreement terms are changed to allow for a larger number of terms and customer  140  is charged accordingly, or the terms are left unchanged and a surcharge is applied for the additional risk and/or volatility products to be delivered. Control then returns to step  405 , where a determination is made whether the risk product can be provided to customer  140  within terms of a time limit.  
         [0154]     If in step  410 , a determination is made that the risk product can be provided within the terms of a time limit, then in step  406 , risk and/or volatility products are delivered to customer  140  until the next subscription period. For example, the request for additional risk and/or volatility products may be received at the end of a subscription period and instead of renting the additional risk and/or volatility products immediately, they are instead delivered during the subsequent subscription period. Control then returns to step  404  where one or more additional risk and/or volatility products are rented to customer or the process is complete in step  410 .  
         [0155]     The approach for renting risk and/or volatility products described herein is now described in the context of renting to customers risk and/or volatility products, such as a means for measuring and/or monitoring credit risk, liquidity risk, settlement risk, operational risk, and systematic risk, and/or means for measuring and/or monitoring historical volatility and f implied volatility.  FIG. 5  is a diagram  500  that depicts a set of customers  511  that desire to rent risk and/or volatility products from a set of providers  521 . Customers  511  communicate with providers  521  over links  512 , the global packet-switched network referred to as the “Internet,” and a link  518 .  
         [0156]     Links  512  and  518  may be any medium for transferring data between customers  511  and the Internet  523  and between the Internet  523  and providers  521 , respectively, and the invention is not limited to any particular medium. In the present example, links  512  and  518  may be connections provided by one or more Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and customers  511  are configured with generic Internet web browsers. Links  512  and  518  may be secure or unsecured depending upon the requirements of a particular application.  
         [0157]     In accordance with an embodiment, customers  511  enter into a rental agreement with providers  521  to rent risk and/or volatility products  510  from providers  521  according to the “Specific Time Limit” and/or “Negotiated Time Limit with Intermediate” approaches described herein. No limiting to any particular approach for entering into the rental agreement is placed on the invention. For example, customers  511  and providers  521  may enter into a rental agreement by fax, mail, telephone or over the Internet, by customers  511  logging into a web site associated with providers  521 .  
         [0158]     Customers  511  create and provide risk and/or volatility product selection criteria to providers  521  over links  512  and  518  and the Internet  523 . The invention is not limited to any particular approach for specifying and providing risk and/or volatility product selection criteria to providers  521 . For example, according to one embodiment, customers  511  provide risk and/or volatility product selection criteria to providers  521  in one or more data files. According to another embodiment, customers  511  log onto a web site of providers  521  and use a graphical user interfaced (GUI) to specify attributes of the risk and/or volatility product that customers desire to rent from providers  521 .  
         [0159]     The risk and/or volatility product selection attributes may include any attributes that describe, at least in part, risk and/or volatility product that customers  511  desire to rent. Customers  511  may identify specific risk and/or volatility product by the risk and/or volatility product selection criteria, or may provide various attributes and allow providers  521  to automatically manufacture and deliver risk and/or volatility product that satisfy the attributes specified.  
         [0160]     Once customers  511  and providers  521  have entered into a rental agreement and customers  511  have provided risk and/or volatility product selection criteria to providers  521 , then risk and/or volatility products  510  are rented to customers  511  over delivery channels  514  in accordance with the terms of the rental agreement. Specifically, according to the “Specific Time Limit” approach described herein, an initial set of risk and/or volatility products  510 , such as means for measuring, monitoring, and/or displaying “liquidity risk,” means for measuring, monitoring, and/or displaying “settlement risk,” means for measuring, monitoring, and/or displaying “operational risk,” means for measuring, monitoring, and/or displaying “credit risk,” and means for measuring, monitoring, and/or displaying “systematic risk,” means for measuring, monitoring, and/or displaying “historical volatility,” and/or means for measuring, monitoring, and/or displaying “implied volatility,” and/or means for measuring, monitoring, and/or displaying “FX” and means for measuring, monitoring, and/or displaying “FX options,” and means for measuring, monitoring, and/or displaying “Margin trading,” and means for measuring, monitoring, and/or displaying “Fixed Income,” and means for measuring, monitoring, and/or displaying “Interest rate derivatives,” and means for measuring, monitoring, and/or displaying “Energy derivatives,” and means for measuring, monitoring, and/or displaying “Commodity and Metals trading and derivatives and Equity trading,” 
         [0161]     are delivered to customers  511  over delivery channels  514  according to the terms of the rental agreement. Subsequent risk and/or volatility products  510  are delivered whenever the specified risk and/or volatility product delivery criteria are satisfied. For example, additional risk and/or volatility products  510  may be delivered upon the return of one or more risk and/or volatility products  510  to provider, a request from customers  511 , the arrival of a particular date, e.g., a specific day of the month, or the expiration of a specified period of time, e.g., fifteen days.  
         [0162]     In accordance with the “Specific Time Limit” approach described herein, once the maximum number of risk and/or volatility products  510  have been rented to a particular consumers  511 , then no additional risk and/or volatility products  510  are rented until one or more rented risk and/or volatility products  510  are returned to providers  521 , or unless a surcharge is applied to the particular consumers  511 . Alternatively, the rental agreement between the particular consumers  511  and providers  521  may be modified to increase the maximum number of risk and/or volatility products  510  that may be rented simultaneously to the particular consumers  511 .  
         [0163]     The rental agreement between customers  511  and providers  521  may also specify a maximum number of turns in combination with the “Specific Time Limit” approach. In this situation, a specific time limit restricts how quickly customers  511  may refresh their risk and/or volatility product  512  out baskets. For example, suppose that a particular consumers  511  agrees with providers  521  to rent up to four risk products with a time limit of 3 month. Under this agreement, the particular consumers  511  may maintain a personal register of up to four risk products for 3 months. Thus, the particular consumers  511  can completely “replace” his personal register once per month. If the particular consumers  511  agreed to a specific time limit of 2 months, then the particular consumers  511  would be able to completely replace his personal register for two months.  
         [0164]     Providers  521  may be centralized or distributed depending upon the requirements of a particular application. For example, providers  521  may be a centralized data processing center from which all risk and/or volatility products  510  are manufactured and delivered. Alternatively, providers  521  may be implemented by a network of distributed data processing center.  
         [0165]      FIG. 6  is a flow diagram that illustrates an approach for renting risk and/or volatility products  510  to customers over a communications network such as the Internet using both “Specific Time Limit” and “Negotiated Time Limit with Intermediate” according to an embodiment. Referring also to  FIG. 5 , after starting in step  601 , in step  602 , a consumers  511  enters into a rental agreement with providers  521 . In the present example, consumers  511  uses a generic web browser to access an Internet web site associated with providers  521  and enter into a rental agreement that specifies that consumers  511  may maintain a personal register of four risk products for 1 month (“Specific Time Limit” of 1 month).