Patent ID: 7765137

Claim:
A method comprising: (a) providing a posting market center that uses a computing system having a public order book and a tick back increment; (b) receiving by the computing system a market center-restricted order specifying a financial instrument and a price; (c) retrieving by the computing system an away market best price in the specified financial instrument; (d) determining by the computing system whether the price of the market center-restricted order locks or crosses the away market best price; (e) responsive to determining that the price of the market center-restricted order locks or crosses the away market best price: computing by the computing system a ticked back price parameter based on the away market best price and the tick back increment; and displaying by the computing system the computed ticked back price parameter as the market center-restricted order price on the posting market center public order book; (f) retrieving by the computing system an updated away market best price; (g) determining by the computing system whether the updated away market best price locks or crosses the posting market center public order book based on the price displayed for the market center-restricted order; (h) responsive to determining that the updated away market best price locks or crosses the posting market center public order book: maintaining by the computing system the price displayed for the market center-restricted order in the posting market center public order book; and (i) responsive to determining that the updated away market best price does not lock or cross the posting market center public order book: determining by the computing system whether the posting market center has at least one contra-order having a contra-order price at the market best offer price, if the market center-restricted order is a bid, or at the market best bid price, if the market center-restricted order is an offer, and whether the financial instrument's price is greater than or equal to the contra-order price, if the market center-restricted order is a bid, or, whether the financial instrument's price is less than or equal to the contra-order price, if the market center-restricted order is an offer; and responsive to determining that the posting market center has at least one contra-order having a contra-order price at the market best offer price, if the market center-restricted order is a bid, or at the market best bid price, if the market center-restricted order is an offer, and that the financial instrument's price is greater than or equal to the contra-order price, if the market center-restricted order is a bid, or, the financial instrument's price is less than or equal to the contra-order price, if the market center-restricted order is an offer: trading by the computing system the market center-restricted order against the one or more contra-orders at the contra-order price.