Patent ID: 8566213

Claim:
A method, comprising: receiving, by at least one processor comprising a programmed electronic computer system, a plurality of sets of distribution parameters from at least one trader, in which the act of receiving the plurality of sets of distribution parameters comprises receiving a particular set of distribution parameters from a particular trader in communication with a trading exchange; after receiving the plurality of sets of distribution parameters, receiving from the particular trader a trading order for a particular instrument, the trading order comprising a trading order price and a trading order size, in which the trading order is received by the at least one processor; determining, by the at least one processor, from the plurality of sets of distribution parameters a particular set of distribution parameters for distributing the trading order across a plurality of price levels; based on the act of determining the particular set of distribution parameters for distributing the received trading order, automatically generating by the at least one processor a plurality of distributed trading orders distributed over multiple price levels based at least on the trading order price, the trading order size, and the identified particular set of distribution parameters, in which each of the plurality of distributed trading orders comprises a price and a size, in which the sum of the sizes of the plurality of trading orders is greater than or equal to the trading order size; and before any communicating of the trading order to the trading exchange, automatically submitting, by the at least one processor, the generated plurality of distributed trading orders to the trading exchange for the particular instrument, in which at least two of the plurality of distributed trading orders are available to each of a plurality of other traders on the trading exchange after the generated plurality of distributed trading orders are submitted to the trading exchange.