Patent ID: 8046286

Claim:
A financial instrument tradable between a buyer and a seller comprising: a tradable tracking instrument that tracks an underlying benchmark with an identifiable value, the tradable tracking instrument undergoing change with each change of the underlying benchmark, the underlying benchmark being one of: a debt; equity; commodity; currency instrument; index containing a debt, equity, currency, or commodity instrument; derivative on a debt, equity, currency, or commodity instrument; a United States Treasury security; a treasury futures contract; a specific United States Treasury bond; and a specific United States Treasury note; the tradable tracking instrument requiring clearing of the tradable tracking instrument between the buyer and seller through one of: a commodities exchange; securities exchange; and an organization approved by the United States Government for clearing financial instruments; wherein the clearing of the tradable tracking instrument is not contingent upon the delivery of the underlying benchmark, and wherein the tradable tracking instrument ceases tracking upon final settlement.