Patent ID: 7801798

Claim:
A method for using a computer-implemented bid evaluation tool to allow a seller to evaluate bids for a sales contract for the sale of a product to a buyer, comprising: providing the seller with an opportunity to define a date range for the sales contract using the bid evaluation tool, wherein the date range includes at least two days; with a computer display screen, displaying forecast price data for the product in a graph on a bid evaluation screen using the bid evaluation tool; with the computer display screen, displaying historical price data for the product in the graph using the bid evaluation tool; with processing circuitry, generating a proposed bid based on a product price data set and the defined date range using the bid evaluation tool; and with the computer display screen, displaying information on the proposed bid on the bid evaluation screen using the bid evaluation tool, wherein the date range for the sales contract begins on a start date and ends on an end date, wherein there are a plurality of given days within the date range, wherein the sales contract specifies a bid price for each of the given days, and wherein at least some of the product is delivered to the buyer on each of the plurality of given days according to the bid price for that given day.