Patent ID: 8412559

Claim:
A method for creating shadow data to enhance a historical bid data set, the historical bid data set comprising a plurality of records, each record of the plurality of records representing a bid for business, the method comprising the steps of: setting, via one or more processors, a variable N to a positive integer corresponding to a number of additional data records to be added for each record in the historical bid data set; setting, via the one or more processors, a variable Delta to a positive number corresponding to a percentage change in a price where each new data record is created; and for each record of the plurality of records: setting, via the one or more processors, a variable i equal to 0; setting, via the one or more processors, a variable P as an original price for a bid represented by the record; and looping, via the one or more processors, N number of times, wherein for each loop: in response to the bid being an accepted bid, modifying, via the one or more processors, the record to use a new variable P′ as a new price that is based upon a new price ratio of (PR−i*Delta); in response to the bid being a rejected bid, modifying, via the one or more processors, the record to use a new variable P′ as a new price that is based upon a new price ratio of (PR+i*Delta); saving, via the one or more processors, the modified record as a new record in the historical bid data set to form an enhanced historical bid data set; and adding, via the one or more processors, one to the variable i.