Patent ID: 7590940

Claim:
A system for providing an interactive user interface to a user, the system comprising: a host computer system comprising at least one processor and an operatively associated computer readable medium, wherein the computer readable medium comprises instructions executable by the at least one processor for serving a file for the interactive user interface via an electronic communication network to the user, the interactive user interface comprising: a focal company field listing an identifier for a focal company; a focal company metric input field for allowing a user to select a focal company metric; a related company metric input field for allowing a user to select a related company metric; a positive correlation field listing identifiers for companies whose related company metric is positively correlated to the focal company metric, wherein the positive correlation field lists identifiers for companies having a related company metric with a correlation factor relative to the focal company metric that exceeds a first threshold value; a negative correlation field listing identifiers for companies whose related company metric is negatively correlated to the focal company metric, wherein the negative correlation field lists identifiers for companies having a related company metric with a correlation factor relative to the focal company metric that is less than a second threshold value; and wherein certain of the identifiers listed in the positive correlation field and the negative correlation field include a hyperlink which, when activated by a user, causes the identifier corresponding to the activated hyperlink to be listed as a new focal company in the focal company field and such that the positive correlation field lists identifiers for companies whose related company metric is positively correlated to the focal company metric of the new focal company and the negative correlation field lists identifiers for companies whose related company metric is negatively correlated to the focal company metric of the new focal company; and a database in communication with the host computer system.