Patent ID: 8589281

Claim:
A method, performed by one or more processors of a computer system, for investing in an exchange traded fund (ETF), the method comprising: receiving, by the one or more processors of the computer system, user input that defines a desired growth rate that an investor desires to obtain on an investment amount; calculating, by the one or more processors of the computer system, a plurality of trading blocks based on the desired growth rate, each trading block defining a purchase price, a sale price, and a percentage of the investment amount to be used to purchase shares of the ETF at the defined purchase price; storing, by the one or more processors of the computer system, the plurality of trading blocks in a computer storage medium of the computer system; accessing, by the one or more processors of the computer system, a first trading block of the plurality of trading blocks that is stored in the computer storage medium of the computer system, including identifying from the stored first trading block the purchase price, the sale price, and the percentage of the investment amount for the first trading block; generating, by the one or more processors of the computer system, a purchase order to purchase shares of the ETF at the purchase price of the first trading block using the percentage of the investment amount defined for the first trading block; and generating, by the one or more processors of the computer system, a conditional sale order to sell the purchased shares of the first trading block when the ETF is trading at the sell price of the first trading block.