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`Attorney Docket No.
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`First Named Inventor
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`Fnesen
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`EV839378550US
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`113211us.PTO11/417544
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`IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
`050306
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`APPLICATION ELEMENTS
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`ACCOMPANYING APPLICATION PARTS
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`Transmittal Form
`
`Specification (including claims and abstract)
`[Total Pages 48]
`[Total Sheets 14]
`{Total Pages 3]
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`1.
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`Assignment Papers
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`inventorls) named in the prior
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`5. E Application Data Sheet (See 3? CFR 1.76)
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`18. E This is a CONTINUING APPLICATION. Please note the following:
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`a. E This is a E Continuation D Divisional C] Continuation-impart
`of prior US. Patent Application Serial No. 09/289,550 filed April 9, 1999.
`
`Amend the specification by inserting before the first line the sentence:
`b.
`This is a E continuation E] divisional El continuation-in-part of application Serial No OS!289.550 filed April 9. 1999
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`c. E The prior application is assigned of record to Trading Technologies International, Inc.
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`For CONTINUATION or DIVISIONAL Apps only: The entire disclosure of the prior application. from which a copy of the
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`hereby incorporated by reference therein. This incorporation can only be relied upon when a portion has been inadvertently omitted
`from the submitted a- lication
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`[Page 1 of 2]
`0001
`0001
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`TDA 1002
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`TDA 1002
`CBM of U.S. Pat. No. 7,533,056
`CBM of US. Pat. No. 7,533,056
`
`

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`UTILITY PATENT APPLICATION TRANSMITTAL
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`Commissioner for Patents, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450, on the date indicated below.
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` 24. USPTO CUSTOMER NUMBER
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`39310
`
`Trading Technologies International, Inc.
` 25. SIGNATURE OF APPLICANT. ATTORNEY, OR AGENT REQUIRED
`Joseph A. Herndon
`
`Name
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` Reg. No.
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`50,469
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`2‘—
`v
`V r
`May 3, 2006
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`' If the specification and drawings exceed 100 sheets of paper, the application size fee due is $250.00 ($125.00 for
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`
`UTIL (Rev. 12/10/04)
`
`[Page 2 of 2]
`0002
`
`0002
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`

`

`
`
`USER INTERFACE FOR AN
`ELECTRONIC TRADING SYSTEM
`
`Inventors
`
`Richard W. Friesen
`Peter C. Hart
`
`lechnical Eield
`
`The present invention relates generally to the field of graphical user interfaces and
`
`I0
`
`more particularly to the field of graphical user interfaces for electronic trading systems.
`
`Eackground of the Inventiog
`
`Trading pits are the lifeblood of a market economy. Quantities of goods and
`
`shares in companies are bought and sold by millions of investors through trading pits on
`exchanges everyday. When a particular-trading product or item is more valued, the value
`
`15
`
`of the item is driven up as a result of more aggressive bidding by the buyers. When an
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`item is less valued, the value of the item is driven down as a result of more aggressive
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`offers to sell the item. The successful trader anticipates the rise or fall ofthe value of an
`
`item and performs his or her own transaction before the rest of the market is aware of the
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`item’s potential gain or loss in value. Thus, anticipation of the market and specifically of
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`the future demand for an item of interest is critical to the success of a trader.
`
`The transactions for each item occur in a trading pit for that item. The trading pit
`
`is a designated area in an exchange in which the customers submit their orders, either bids
`
`or offers, for the item to a broker in the pit. The exchange records all transactions and
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`relays or posts to the individual traders the outstanding bid having the highest value and
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`the outstanding offer having the lowest value for the item, along with the quantity
`’
`_
`
`l
`
`0003-
`
`0003
`
`

`

`specified in the order. The exchange does not release information on all outstanding
`
`offers and bids to the traders because, in part, this information is what gives the market
`
`' makers an advantage over the traders and enables the market makers to change theirown
`
`trading directions quickly, step in front of customer orders, and use customer limit orders
`
`to protect the market makers from losses. However, for an individual trader, having only
`
`the latest order information for an item complicatesthe trader’s task of ascertaining
`
`trends in the orders for an item because the trader has very little information about the
`
`volume of offers and bids or the rate at which these volumes are changing.
`
`_ Other information is also used by the trader to anticipate the market, including
`
`I0
`
`current exchange performances, historical transaction data for the item, the number of
`
`traders at the pit, and the trader’s sense of the activity of the pit. However, it is ofien
`
`difficult for a trader to quickly assemble this information from diverse and often
`
`unrelated sources or even effectively process all of this information in order to make an
`
`informed transaction decision. From this information, and other external information, the
`
`trader must attempt to determine trends in the buying or selling for the item in order to
`
`anticipate the market and the demand for a particular item.
`
`Thus, a system is needed in which trend information of market demand for an
`
`individual item is provided to traders in an intuitive format which allows traders to
`
`quickly interpret how market demand is changing to an item. A system is also needed
`
`which provides contextual information about the item or the market to the trader while
`
`the trader is trading on a specific item in a manner which allows the trader to quickly
`
`interpret the information and then act accordingly.
`
`I0
`
`0004
`
`0004
`
`

`

`Summarv of Invention
`
`The present invention is a user interface for an electronic trading system that
`
`allows a remote trader to view trends in the orders for an item, and provides the trading
`
`information in an easy to see and interpret graphical format. The user interface of the
`
`present invention operates in a system in which individual traders place orders including
`
`bids and offers, on remote client terminals, and this information is routed to a transaction _
`
`server. The transaction server receives order information from the remote terminals,
`
`matches a bid for an item to an offer for an item responsive to the bid corresponding with
`
`the offer, and communicates outstanding bid and offer information back to the client
`terminals. Thus, in accordance with the present invention, each Vclient terminal displays
`
`I0
`
`all of the outstanding bids and offers for an item, in contrast to the conventional systems
`
`and methods in which only the highest bid and lowest offer were known to the individual
`
`trader. This allows the trader to view trends in orders for an item, and thus better enables
`
`the trader to anticipate demand for the item.
`For example, in one embodiment, a graph is formed with a value axis. Bid icons
`
`I5
`
`and offer icons for all outstanding bids and offers are displayed on the graph at locations
`
`corresponding to the values of the bids and offers. When an item is being “bid up," i.e.,
`the demand for the item is growing, all ofthe new bids are displayed to the remote trader.
`
`The trader immediately sees the increasing demand for the item as it occurs, and thus may
`
`infer that the item may rise in value, and can enter an order to buy for the item
`
`immediately while the value for the item still appears low.
`
`In contrast, in conventional
`
`systems, the trader only knew of the existence of the highest bid, and therefore would not
`
`know that demand for the item was increasing. However, by "'opening the book," all of
`..,
`J
`
`0005
`
`0005
`
`

`

`the outstanding orders are displayed to all of the remote traders and each trader is able to
`
`immediately see the growing demand and maximize his or her position in the market
`
`accordingly.
`
`The user interface of the present invention presents this information in an intuitive
`
`format, allowing the trader to make informed decisions quickly.
`
`In a priority view
`
`embodiment, bid and offer icons are displayed corresponding to an axis of values. This
`
`results in the bid icons being displayed on the lower portion of the screen and the offer
`
`icons being displayed on the upper portion 'ofthe screen. The trader is able to discern ‘
`
`immediately the number and volume ofbids and offers outstanding for the item and their
`
`[0
`
`difference in value. The bids and offers are preferably displayed in different colors,
`
`shapes,'or other visual characteristics, further enhancing the trader’s ability to quickly
`ascertain the current state of the market. The screen is updated frequently to display the
`
`most recent bids and offers. In one embodiment, the icons are formed having an edge
`
`which is angled toward the axis of values. When all outstanding offers and bids are
`
`I5
`
`displayed, the arrangement of icons naturally forms the edges of a triangle that points to
`
`the value differential at the axis of values. In yet another embodiment, the trader’s own
`
`bids and offers are displayed in a first color or other visual characteristic, and the bids and
`
`offers of other traders are displayed in a second color or visual characteristic. This allows
`
`the trader to quickly determine his or her relative position in the marketplace, Finally, in
`
`a preferred embodiment, a size of the icons represents the quantity of the bid or offer,
`
`allowing an easy visual means of determining the relative quantities each bid and offer
`
`represent.
`
`0006
`
`0006
`
`

`

`In a value/quantity view embodiment, an axis ofvalues and an axis of quantities
`
`are used to determine the location of the bid and offer icons. The icons in this '
`
`embodiment are markers or tokens and provide a different look and feel to the trader.
`
`Providing alternate views allow a trader to select a view with which the trader is most
`
`comfortable trading.
`
`A value quantifying analytic is displayed in a further embodiment with respect to
`
`the value axis at a location corresponding to the current value which the analytic
`
`represents. The analytic is preferably displayed as a marker called an action line, in a
`
`color or other visual characteristic different from the other characteristics used to
`
`10
`
`represent other objects being displayed. The action line is selected by each individual
`
`trader and can reflect value-to-earning ratio, volatility, volume of sales, or any other
`
`metric the trader designs, or can be selected from a listed of predetermined metrics. The
`
`action line responds to changes in the data it measures, updating in essentially real time.
`
`The action line allows the trader to immediately determine the current valuation of the
`
`[5
`
`item relative to the trader’s own valuation of the item. As the offers or bids approach the
`
`action line, the trader is prepared to complete a transaction in accordance with the trader’s
`
`own valuation.
`
`In another aspect of the invention, market data and other contextual data is
`
`displayed while the trader is viewing one of the aforementioned user interfaces. A
`
`historical chart is displayed in the background ‘of a user interface to provide additional
`
`information to the trader who is determining the state of the market and how it may affect
`
`the value of the item. For example, the historical chart may represent the various market
`
`indices, historical values ofthe item pr others. and any other historical value, quantity, or
`5
`
`0007
`
`0007
`
`

`

`volume trend. The historical chart can represent the average value of the item over a
`
`period of time, or may represent a value or values for any other item or group of items.
`
`The historical chart is displayed with respect to a vertical axis of values, and is diSplayed
`
`horizontally responsive to time. The historical chart is updated to provide the latest
`information to. the trader while the trader is trading. Thus, in accordance with the present
`
`invention, the trader is able to make instantaneous decisions regarding an item while
`
`receiving critical information about other items or the'past performance of the current
`
`item and other indices. This is a major advantage over conventional methods of trading
`
`in whichthis information is not provided concurrently, and ifpresented at all, is difficult
`
`10
`
`to process quickly.
`
`An alternate embodiment provides a trading pit view that displays trader icons for
`
`each trader and positions the trader icons reflective of the activity level of the trader.
`
`Floor brokers and other bystanders are also displayed and identified to allow the trader to
`
`understand at a glance the respective positions and activity of all users currently
`connected to the transaction server for that trading pit. Selecting a trader icon provides
`
`I5
`
`information regarding the trader and can open up a window to allow the traders to
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`communicate with each other using one or more methods including electronic mail, text
`
`chat or communication by voice over a network connection. The trading pit view allows
`
`the remote trader to immediately ascertain whom the trader is trading against, how active
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`they are, and allows the trader to better anticipate the market.
`
`0008
`
`0008
`
`

`

`Brief Description of the Drawings
`
`Figure 1 is a block diagram of a preferred embodiment of the electronic trading '
`
`system of the present invention.
`
`Figure 2 is a block diagram of a preferred embodiment of the transaction manager
`
`5
`
`of the present invention.
`
`Figures 3a - 3c are screen shots illustrating an embodiment of a Priority View in
`
`accordance with the present invention.
`
`Figure 3d illustrates a buy order pop-up window.
`
`_ Figure 3e illustrates a sell order pop-up window.
`
`10
`
`‘
`
`Figure 4 is a screen shot illustrating an embodiment of a Value/Quantity View in
`
`accordance with the present invention.
`
`Figure 5 is a flow chart illustrating a preferred embodiment of a method of
`
`displaying bid and offer icons in accordance with the present invention.
`
`Figure 6 is a flow chart illustrating a preferred embodiment of a method of
`
`[5
`
`generating a bid order icon in. accordance with the present invention.
`
`Figure 7 is a flow chart illustrating a preferred embodiment of a method of
`
`generating 21 offer order icon in accordance with the present invention.
`
`Figure 8 is a flow chart illustrating an alternate embodiment of generating an
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`order icon.
`
`20
`
`Figure 9 is a screen shot illustrating a Pit Panel view in accordance with the
`
`present invention.
`
`Figure 10 is a flow chart illustrating a preferred embodiment of generating and
`
`placing a trader icon in accordance with the present invention.
`
`7 .
`
`0009
`
`0009
`
`

`

`Figure l 1 is a screen shot illustrating a communication window in accordance
`
`with the present invention.
`
`Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment
`
`Figure 1 illustrates the electronic trading system in accordance with the present
`invention. Client terminals 104' are coupled to a transaction manager 100. The client
`
`terminals 104 are personal computers, terminals as part of a network, or any other
`
`computing device. Traders use the client terminals 104 to interact with trading pits that
`
`are managed by the transaction manager 100. The transaction manager 100 manages
`
`transaction requests generated by the client terminals 104, routes information to, from,
`
`I0
`
`and between the terminals 104 and the transaction manager 100, and stores and retrieves
`
`information from a database 108 or databases 108.
`
`Figure 2 illustrates a mere specific embodiment of the transaction manager 100.
`
`The clients 104 are coupled to log-in manager 204 to provide to each client access to the
`
`transaction manager 100, and to allow each client 104 to designate one or more trading
`
`[5
`
`pits 220 to which to be connected. The transaction manager 100 hosts one or more
`
`transaction processors 200. Each transaction processor 200 is responsible for the trading
`
`of a specified item, essentially supporting a specific trading pit. The summary
`
`information agents 224 for each transaction processor 220 provide a current status of the
`
`activity of each pit 220 to a trader connected to the log-in manager 204. The trader can
`select a pit 220 to which to be connected based upon the summary infomiation. Ohce the
`
`log-in process is complete. the clients 104 are coupled to a registration server 212 for the
`
`Specified trading pit 220. Registration for each pit 220 requires the client 104 to provide
`
`an access key that it received—from the login manager 204 during log in.
`8
`
`0010
`
`0010
`
`

`

`After registering. for a pit 220, the trader is able to add, modify or delete orders for
`
`the item being traded in the trading pit 220. One type of an order called a “bid” is an
`
`order to buy up to a specific quantity of an item at or below a specific value. Another
`
`type of an order called an “offer” is an order to sell up to a specific quantity of an item at
`
`or above a specific value. Other types of orders are possible depending on the type of
`
`item being traded in the trading pit 220.
`
`Each pit 220 includes a transaction server 200. The transaction server 200
`
`receives orders, matches bids and offers (when a bid and offer are matched it is called a
`trade or execution) and routes information to both the database 208 and the client
`
`[0
`
`terminals 104 connected to the trading pit 220. The client terminals 104 generate icons
`
`for bid and offer orders (called bid and offer icons), historical charts and trader icons, and
`
`determine the placement of bid and offer icons and trader icons responsive to the
`
`information received from the transaction server 200. The database 208 to which the
`
`transaction server 220 is coupled stores the information corresponding to each trader,
`
`15
`
`information on every order submitted over a period (such as start of trading days),
`
`information on every trade over a period (such as last 180 days) and the information
`
`corresponding to the item being traded. Each trader may have information associated
`
`with the trader’s account stored, including a name, e-mail account, address, phone
`
`number, personal value quantifying metric or analytic activity level history, and various
`
`other information which is unique to the individual trader and which may be used by the
`
`present invention to create a virtual trading environment.
`
`The information correSponding to every order includes whether the order was a
`
`new order. modifications to an existing order or deletion of a previouSly submitted order,
`
`9
`
`0011
`
`0011
`
`

`

`the type of order (for example, bid or offer), the value, the quantity, the time and date the
`
`order was submitted. and any other information specific to the order. The information
`
`corresponding to every trade includesthe value, quantity, buyer and seller. The
`
`information corresponding to the item being traded includes the highest outstanding bid
`
`value and the lowest outstanding offer value for the item, as well as a list of the values of
`
`all open orders for the item. The item information is stored on the database 208 in a data
`
`structure such as an order table. The server 200 updates the information in the order table
`
`responsive to receiving information from the client terminals 104. The updated
`
`information is then transmitted back to the client terminals 104. Other information, such
`
`[0
`
`as information used in creating historical charts, may also be stored on database 208.
`
`Information which may be global to more than one pit 220, for example, trader personal
`
`information, is also stored on the system database 108, to allow the information to be
`
`accessed by each trading pit 220.
`
`For traders registered to the same trading pit 220, all of their orders (i.e. bids or
`
`I5
`
`offers specifying a value and quantity) are transmitted to the transaction server 200 for
`
`that pit 220. The server 200 analyzes the orders for matches with outstanding, or open,
`
`orders. If there is a match between orders of different types, for example, between a bid
`
`and an offer, then a transaction is enacted and the client terminals 104 are notified to
`
`remove the matched icons. All outstanding orders are transmitted to each client terminal,
`
`allowing a trader to view all of the outstanding orders from all traders for an item on a
`
`trading pit at any given time. The client displays are updated continuously or at specific
`
`intervals to provide updated information regarding which orders are outstanding and the
`
`state of the market in the pit 220.: A_s shown in Figure 2. multiple trading pits 220 are
`10
`
`0012
`
`0012
`
`

`

`provided in the electronic trading system, and a single trader may be connected to as
`
`many pits 220 at the same time as desired. The number of trading pits 220 which may be
`
`maintained in accordance with the present invention is scalable responsive to the number
`
`of servers which are provided in the system. The items of trade include any possible
`
`commodity, for example, minerals, futures, or shares in a corporation. Other network
`
`configurations can be used to implement the electronic trading system as is known to
`
`those of ordinary skill in the art.
`
`The client terminals 104 provide the interactive link between the traders and the
`
`trading pits 220, and display the various user interfaces of the present invention. Figure
`
`[0
`
`3a illustrates a priority view 312 which is designed to allow traders to intuitively place
`
`orders 300, 304 and view markers 336 representing value quantifying metrics, and
`
`contextual trend data 316 in accordance with the present invention.
`
`In the priority view
`
`embodiment, orders 300, 304 are displayed at a location corresponding to their value with
`
`respect to the value axis 332. Values may represent price, interest rate, or any other
`
`[5
`
`metric by which an item may be valued. For example, offer 304(1) has a value of $28.45,
`
`and the lowest point of the bottom edge 308 of the icon 304(1) is aligned with the value
`28.45 on the value axis 332. In this embodiment, the top edges 309 of the bids and.
`
`bottom edges 308 of the offer icons are angled. The rightmost bid is the bid having the
`
`highest value, and the rightmost offer is the offer having the lowest value. This allows
`
`the edges 308, 309 of the icons 300, 304 to form a triangle which points to the separation
`
`in value between the last lowest offer and the last highest bid. The Quantity of each order
`
`is represented by a size of the icon such as its length or height. Icons having a larger size
`represent orders having a greaterzquantity. The specific quantity and other information of
`
`11
`
`'0013
`
`0013
`
`

`

`an order displayed on the screen may be known by selecting that order, which invokes a
`
`pop-up window to display the precise value and quantity of the selected order. In an
`alternate embodiment, the specific order information is displayed in the order task bar
`
`328, in response to a trader selecting a bid or offer icon provided the order was submitted
`
`by the trader selecting the order. Alternatively, if space permits, the quantity and value
`
`may displayed in the icon itself.
`
`If there are several orders with equal value, the orders are stacked or placed
`
`adjacent to each other responsive to'the time at which the order was placed. For example,
`
`bids 300(5), 300(6), 300(7) have equal values at $29.50. Therefore, all three bid icons
`
`I0
`
`300 are vertically stacked. A preferred method of stacking places the oldest orders
`
`closest to the horizontal space which naturally occurs and separates the bids and the
`
`offers. The horizontal separation between the bids and the offers occurs naturally
`
`because all of the bids displayed are always at a lower value then the displayed offers. If
`
`a bid is placed at a value equal to or exceeding an offer value, a transaction will be made ’
`
`[5
`
`immediately and the icons removed. For example, in the stack containing orders 300(7),
`
`300(6), and 300(5) in Figure 3a, the first and therefore the oldest bid in time was 300(7),
`
`and is placed at the top of the stack, closest to the horizontal separation between the
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`displayed bids and offers. The other two stacked bids 300(6), 300(5) are positioned
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`below the oldest bid 300(7), corresponding to the time at which they were submitted, and
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`sorted in order ofoldest to newest.
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`In the stack containing offers 304(2), 304(3), and
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`304(4), the oldest offer 304(2) is positioned on the bottom of the stack closest to the
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`horizontal separation, and the newest offer 304(4) is positioned on the top of the stack.
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`0014
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`0014
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`The above method of ordering bids and offers is a preferred method, however other
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`ordering schemes could be used within the scope ofthe present invention.
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`The trader using the client terminal 104 in accordance with the present invention,
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`is shown all of the outstanding orders 300, 304 for the item being traded. This is one
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`significant difference between the present invention and conventional systems because a
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`trader using a system in accordance with the present invention is able to view trends in
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`the bids and offers in addition to the buying and selling of the item being traded. For
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`example, in Figure 3a, a trader can quickly analyze the outstanding orders 300, 304, and
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`determine that there are an almost equal number of bids 300 (8) as offers (9). Thus, the
`trader may infer that the market is stable, and the value for the item will not be
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`I0
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`dramatically driven up or down in the near future. Accordingly, the trader may decide to
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`take no action. However, as shown in Figure 3b, if demand builds through an increased
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`number of bids being made, as shown by the display of an increased number of bid icons
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`300, or bids are being made for large quantities, as shown by the display of bid icons 300
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`[5
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`having a greater size, and if supply recedes as indicated by the display of a reduced
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`number of offers icons 304, the trader can anticipate that the value for the item will
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`increase. Consequently, the trader will place bids for the currently low valued offers 304.
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`Thus, by viewing all outstanding offer icons 304 and bid icons 300 as they are made on
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`an item, the trader can anticipate the market and quickly adjust his or her trading plans to
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`take advantage of the information. In contrast, in conventional systems, the trader only
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`knows the last highest bid and the laSt highest offer.
`In the example of Figure 3a, the
`trader would only know the existence ofbid 300(9) and offer 304(1). Only the market
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`maker would know of the existence of the other bidsand offers. Individual traders would
`a
`l.)
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`0015
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`0015
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`

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`therefore be unaware of trends in bidding, and experience greater difficulty in anticipating
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`the market.
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`The trader can also view the gap between offer icons 304 and bid icons 300 to
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`determine at what value sales may be made and for what quantity. In the example of
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`Figure 3a, the trader can determine that there are several bids 300(5), 300(6), 300(7), at a
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`value slightly less than $27.35. Therefore, if the trader has a number of items to sell, the
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`trader can make offers at that value and be assured of a sale of all of his or her items.
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`However, if this value is too low, the trader can choose to keep all of his items until the
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`value of the item has risen, which would be reflected in the display of additional bid icons
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`I0
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`at a higher value position in the screen. In contrast, if a trader was using a conventional
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`system, the trader would have to offer his items incrementally, without knowing in
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`advance when sales are likely to be made.
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`The value axis 332 indicates the value at which an item is being traded. This
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`value may represent different qualitative measures for an item, such as the raw price for
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`[5
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`the item; for bonds, the value could be the cost for the bond or the implied interest rate
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`for the bond, or the value be used as a measure for an implied volatility of the item, for
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`example, a generic measurement of the relative expense of an option. Each trader can use
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`their own value scale. For example, one trader may use a bond cost as an axis of values
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`and another may use the implied interest rate of the bond. Regardless of a trader's choice
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`of value, the different orders are displayed on the trader's screen in temis of the value the
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`trader is chosen. Additionally, the value scales are completely customizable. For
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`example, a gold arbitrageur could create a scale that measures the difference between the
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`futures price of the metal less thespgt cash price of the metal. The arbitrageur could then
`14
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`0016
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`0016
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`

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`‘apply the cost of carry, including insurance and storage, to the future/cash price
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`difference to generate an implied interest rate for the gold. Thus, the value axis for the
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`arbitrageur would be an interest rate.
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`In another example a trader who is interested in
`
`U-
`
`trading soybean oil could buy and sell soybeans, but, by using a value axis which
`accounts for the current cost of crushing soybeans, storage of soybeans, transport, etc, can
`be actually trading in soybean oil. Thus different traders in the same trading pit 220
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`would see the same bid and offers but organized with respect to their own specific value
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`axis. Thus, the present invention provides enormous flexibility in constructing a view of
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`an item's value which is directly representative of the trader's own interest in the item.
`The priority view 312 offers several other advantages to a trader. The offers 304
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`[0
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`and the bids 300 are displayed in different colors, shapes, textures or sizes, or other
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`distinguishing, visual characteristics, to allow the trader to quickly ascertain the current
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`state of the market for this item. Additionally, orders made by the trader are displayed
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`having a different visual characteristic than the visual characteristic used to display orders
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`[5
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`of other traders. This allows the trader to easily distinguish between their own orders and
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`the orders of other traders. For example, in Figure 3a, the trader is able to immediately
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`determine that offers 304(3) and 304(7) are the trader's own offers 304, and therefore
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`should be discounted from any market analysis.
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`In Figure 3a, the trader can also quickly
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`determine that the trader himself is the trader with the most bids 300 in place, which
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`sugg