IBG 1024
`CBM of U.S. Patent No. 7,212,999
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`CBM of U.S. Patent No. 7,212,999
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`FOR THE PURPOSES OF INFORMATION ONLY
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`applications under the PCT.
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`disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark
`Office patent file or records, but reserves all other
`copyright rights whatsoever.
`
`BACKGROUND
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`This application is a continuation-in-part of co—pending
`U.S. Patent Application Ser. No.
`Eflgfifi
`, filed
`March 14, 1989 by the present inventors.
`
`clearinghouse.
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`The futures exchanges house centralized auction markets
`(called designated contract markets) where standardized
`contracts, based on quantity and quality of commodity, are
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`bought and sold, for future delivery, by open outcry.
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`It
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`is important to note that the exchanges themselves do not
`trade commodity contracts, nor do they set prices at which
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`contracts are traded.
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`They merely furnish a place where
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`market participants and their brokerage representatives can
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`meet to buy and sell commodity futures contracts.
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`Floor traders are generally classified in two ways
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`(1) as speculators, or "locals" who buy and sell for their
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`own accounts, or (2) as floor brokers, who fill orders for
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`commission houses, producers and processors seeking to lock
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`in a price for their products.
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`A "local" can take
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`long-term positions (i.e., weeks or months) or "scalp" over
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`very short periods (liquidating positions within seconds or
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`minutes of entering the transactions). He may trade in one
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`or more pits.
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`He benefits from the speed with which he can
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`take or liquidate positions, but this is in itself no
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`assurance of a profit.
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`some floor traders specialize in
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`spreads by taking opposite positions between future or
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`or never trade for themselves. These are brokers who may
`who may specialize in orders from customers such as com-
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`mercial processors, exporters, financial institution com-
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`modity trading funds and the like. They may receive only a
`small percentage of the commissions paid by the customer to
`his commission house, but the commission revenues may be
`_substantial depending on the volume of business.
`The
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`orders held by a floor broker at any given time are
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`referred to as his "deck." He is allowed to trade for his
`own account if he chooses, but can not use the public
`orders to benefit his own trading.
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`Trading generally takes place in a pit or around the
`outside of a ring. All orders received by member firms are
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`parts of the trading area at the same time. These condi-
`tions might result in trades at prices that are never offi-
`cially quoted or might cause an order to be marked "un-
`able," even though the price on the order was well within
`the range of trading in that commodity.
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`Transactions on the trading floor must be reported to
`the membership and the general public.
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`Transaction information
`is entered by exchange-employed market reporters in each
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`trading pit and is accessible through computer terminals
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`and electronic wallboards on each trading floor.
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`At the end of each day the clearing house, which may be
`a subsidiary of the exchange or an independent entity, as-
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`sumes one side of all open contracts:
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`the clearing house
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`becomes the buyer to each seller of a futures contract, and
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`a seller to each buyer.
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`The clearing house guarantees its
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`members the performance of both sides of all open
`contracts.
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`other aspects of the commodity markets are treated in
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`the literature, which includes Kaufman, "Handbook of
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`Futures Markets," John Wiley & Sons, New York (1984);
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`Rothstein,
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`"The Handbook of Financial Futures," McGraw Hill
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`Book Company, New York (1984); Gould,
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`"The Dow Jones—Irwin
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`Guide to Commodities Trading," Dow Jones-Irwin, Homewood
`
`"The Economics of Futures Trading,"
`(1981): Goss & Yamey,
`John Wiley & Sons (1976): Johnson & Hazen, "Commodities
`
`Regulation," Little, Brown and Company, Boston (1989); R.
`Teweles et al., "The Commodity Futures Game," McGraw—Hill,
`New York (1974); T. Hieronymus, "Economics of Futures
`
`Trading," Commodity Research Bureau, Inc., New York (1971):
`“Commodity Trading Manual," Chicago Board of Trade, Chicago
`(1985); and J. Sohwager,
`"A Complete Guide to the Futures
`Markets," John Wiley 5. Sons, New York (-1984) .
`
`The open outcry method of auction trading is widely
`believed to be the best method of buying and selling goods
`because of the fast access to the market it provides to all
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`prospective traders. At present the open outcry auction in
`the pit produces a large quantity of information which must
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`be recorded accurately and quickly by hand. As markets be-
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`come more complex and international in character,
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`those re-
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`ment of the market.
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`The information which is available to traders in pres-
`ent—day trading pits includes:
`(1)
`the identities of the
`other traders in the pit:
`(2)
`the market activities of the
`other traders in the pit,
`including bids, offers, and
`trades made or not;
`(3)
`the personal appearance of other
`traders in the pit: and (4) selected news from outside the
`pit.
`It should be understood that some of this information
`is provided to present traders by subtle inferential
`communication means, such as body language, as well as by
`more objective means like news tickers and electronic
`-bulletin boards.
`
`Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to
`replicate the action which occurs in real commodity trading
`pits with an electronic system which would relieve the re-
`strictions inherent in the such pits while retaining their
`advantages. other automated trading systems and the like
`are disclosed in U.S. Patents 4,789,928 to Fujisaki:
`4,677,552 to Sibley,
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`outcry auction market's time-proven efficiency in
`discovering prices: the liquidity that locals bring to the
`trading pit: the competition between many buyers and many
`sellers that drives prices to their most economically
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`appropriate level: the transparency of the market, which
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`allows traders to know who is in the market and at what
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`price and quantity; and the ability to provide a superior
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`level of market surveillance.
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`As described above,
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`the trading system of the present
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`invention is applicable to all markets,
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`including those for
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`securities trading. Securities markets are usually based
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`on actions by specialists, each of whom is the market maker
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`for one or more specific securities.
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`In the New York Stock
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`Exchange, for example,
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`the ultimate determination of price
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`for any given transaction frequently is determined by a
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`specialist who deals in a particular stock and who
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`maintains a running list or "book" of offers to sell and
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`orders to purchase that stock.
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`The specialist may complete
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`a transaction in the stock whenever one or more purchase
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`and sell orders can be matched with respect to price; on
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`occasion,
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`the same specialist purchases the particular
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`stock in which he specializes or sells the same stock in
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`order to maintain a market for the stock and prevent
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`violent fluctuations in its price. Similar functions,
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`particularly with respect to the matching of orders to
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`purchase and to sell, must be carried out in all auction
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`including such
`markets for the marketing of fungible goods,
`commodities as wheat, corn, and the like as well as stocks
`and bonds.
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`A computation system for establishing prices in auction
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`trading for the securities market is described in U.s. Pat-
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`ent 3,581,072 to Nymeyer. That computation system
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`comprises a main data store for recording encoded data
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`items representative of orders to buy and to sell the
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`goods, such orders including orders at specific prices and
`other orders "at the market." The system includes a buy
`order sequencing device for arranging and recording
`purchase offers first in descending order by price and
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`secondly by time of entry so that at each price level the
`oldest orders are uppermost.
`A sell order sequencing
`device is provided for arranging and recording all offers
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`A closing
`price store is provided to record the last actual selling
`price for the goods.
`The closing price store and the-main
`data store are coupled, by suitable control means,
`to the
`sequencing devices in order to transfer the recorded data
`items from the data store to the sequencing devices with
`"at market" prices being transferred at the aforementioned
`last selling price. The two sequencing devices are coupled
`to a comparator that compares the sell orders and the buy
`orders, when they have been arranged in sequence,
`to
`determine the lowest buy order price that is equal to or
`greater than a recorded sell order and thus establish a new
`selling price for the goods.
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`More than such a system for merely matching buy and sell
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`or of the order-matching type.
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`Its trade reaction time
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`a display.
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`The re-creation of the competitive pit provides
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`an incentive for locals to trade,
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`thereby maintaining the
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`liquidity that is critical to auction market trading.
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`The
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`system also provides market transparency, i.e., partici-
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`pants can see who is in the market and who is executing
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`trades with whom -- an important component of a competitive
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`market. Finally,
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`the present invention's ability to allow
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`participants to view the market, just as if they were phys-
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`ically present, encourages a competitive market and
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`enhances the ability to detect trading abuses that may oc-
`cur.
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`With the system of the present invention,
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`traders can
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`quickly see who is in the pit, whether they are buying or
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`selling,
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`in what quantity,
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`the bids and offers, price
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`levels and a wide variety of market activity.
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`The electronic market,
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`in accordance with the present
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`invention, provides most of the information that is now
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`physical pit. Also,
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`the system tabulates all of the bids
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`and offers by contract month and provides a short time
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`frame report of who traded how much with whom.
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`In
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`addition,
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`the system keeps a running tabulation of the
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`trader's own position.
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`The invention further facilitates
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`the auction market by providing different screens for each
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`of the different contract months and trading pits, but
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`still allows traders to move freely between contract months
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`and trading pits.
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`It will be appreciated that those
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`advantages are also provided to all market forms which can
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`be practiced with the present invention.
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`The present invention also reduces the back office costs
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`to trading firms by reducing the volume of paperwork and
`consequent errors.
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`ducing costs by minimizing mismatched trades or out-trades.
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`further re-
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`RY
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`In accordance with the present invention, an apparatus
`for market trading comprises a host processor which selec-
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`The display identifies
`active traders by displaying a separate symbol or icon for
`each, e.g., either a blue square for those bidding to buy
`contracts or a red oval for those offering to sell.
`In one
`embodiment,
`the quantity of each trader's bid or offer is
`listed within each icon, as is each trader's badge acronym,
`so everyone knows who's buying and selling how much.
`In an
`alternative embodiment,
`the securities, securities options
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`or other commodities that are traded by each specialist may
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`be listed within each icon with the specialist's acronym.
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`Also displayed on the screen may be a box, which is
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`preferably a contrasting color such as green, listing the
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`trader who is currently making the market in a futures con-
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`tract by being the first at the best bid or offer price.
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`When that trader's price is hit, his order gets top priori-
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`ty. Trading is done by using the mouse to move a cursor
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`onto the icon of a trader and pushing a button, i.e.,
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`"clicking" on the icon.
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`In one embodiment, users also can type in the initials
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`of several traders and push a single button to fill a
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`larger order by simultaneous transactions with the several
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`traders. Similarly,
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`the present systems can automatically
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`match orders, e.g., a large order with a plurality of
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`smaller quantity traders, or orders for stocks or other
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`securities as in the stock exchanges.
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`The orders could be
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`filled, for example, based upon price and time of receipt.
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`The system permits scalping and spread trading by pro-
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`viding selective display of information relating to differ-
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`ent commodity contracts.
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`BRIEF QESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
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`The objects and advantages of the present invention will
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`be better understood after a reading of the following
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`detailed description in conjunction with the drawings in
`which:
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`Figure 1a shows a block diagram of a portion of an ap-
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`paratus in accordance with the present invention:
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`Figures lb and lo show embodiments of other portions of
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`an apparatus in accordance with the present invention:
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`Figures 2a, 2b, and 2c show display partitions in ac-
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`cordance with present invention:
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`Figure 3 illustrates the presentation of supplementary
`information on a display:
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`Figure 4 illustrates a display partitioned for an auc-
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`tion market during auction market trading:
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`Figures 5a, 5b, and 5c illustrate successive displays of
`trader identifying information:
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`Figure 6 shows a display partitioned for "spread" trad-
`ing:
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`Figure 7 shows a display partitioned for option trading:
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`and
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`Figure 8 shows a functional block diagram of the user
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`terminal instructions.
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`QE TAI LED QESCRI PT ION
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`In accordance with the present invention, an electronic
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`method and apparatus are provided which facilitate the
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`rapid exchange of large amounts of inferential and
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`objective information without requiring a physical
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`congregation of traders.
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`Referring now to the Figures in which like reference
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`numerals indicate like parts throughout, Figure 1a shows a
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`block diagram of an apparatus in accordance with the
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`present invention comprising a host processor 100 that
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`communicates with a plurality of user terminals 200 (only
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`one of which is shown) via a communication link 300. As
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`described in more detail below,
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`the host processor 100 may
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`advantageously be one of the "Nonstop" systems manufactured
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`by Tandem Computers, Inc., and each user terminal 200 may
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`be a microExplorerTm processor, made by Texas Instruments
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`Inc. that includes a Model Macintosh II manufactured by
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`Apple Computer, Inc., having a Radius display.
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`It will,
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`however, be appreciated that other suitable devices are
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`commercially available.
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`one embodiment of a user terminal
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`200 is illustrated in Figure lb which shows a
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`high-resolution display 201, a keyboard 202 and a mouse
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`203.
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`The host processor 100 carries out a plurality of in-
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`struction modules, which can be written in any suitable
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`computer language, such as COBOL or TAL.
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`one of a
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`plurality of host receiver modules 110 receives
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`communications from a selected one of the plurality of user
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`terminals 200 that are logged into the system.
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`Each host
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`receiver module 110 is thus a port into the host processor
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`100, which is activated initially by an attempt at
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`connection by a user terminal.
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`It will be appreciated that
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`the greater the number of host receiver modules 110 that
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`can be implemented by the host processor,
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`the greater the
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`number of traders who can participate in the market.
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`In operation, a host receiver module 110 receives
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`transactions and other information input to the system at a
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`user terminal and electronically attaches or associates
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`that information with a time of receipt indication.
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`Such
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`time stamping is important for audit and integrity
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`functions of the system, as well as for carrying out
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`order-matching features of other types of trading system.
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`The received transaction and time-stamp are then stored
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`temporarily in a host-in queue in the receiver module,
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`the host receiver module 110 causes the host to send an
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`acknowledgment of receipt to the transmitting user
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`terminal.
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`In some situations,
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`the host receiver module 110
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`would cause the host processor 100 to send a
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`not-acknowledged message to the sending user terminal so
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`that the information could be retransmitted.
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`Such situa-
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`tions would typically occur when the host-in queue is
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`temporarily full or when an error in the format of the in~
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`formation, such as might arise from a noisy communication
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`link, occurs.
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`The host-in queue in the host receiver module 110 is
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`advantageously realized by any suitable randomly accessible
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`buffer memory rather than a first—in, first-out (FIFO)
`buffer. As described further below, by using a random
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`access buffer,
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`the host processor can sort the information
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`resident in the buffer and selectively prioritize
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`processing of that information.
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`A receiver module 110 receives the information from the
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`user terminals 200 and places it in the host—in queue in a
`predetermined time sequence.
`The receiver module 110 thus
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`can advantageously arrange for processing of information
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`from a first user terminal before processing of information
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`from a second terminal despite the host receiver's earlier
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`receipt of the second terminal's information.
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`For example,
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`trades by a user in Japan could be processed by a Chicago-
`located host processor before trades from a Chicago user
`are processed.
`In this way, communications link delays can
`be compensated by the system so that the system access time
`will be equal for all users.
`In addition,
`the receiver
`module 110 can implement the order-matching features of the
`present invention for organizing information in price and
`time sequences as in other types of trading system.
`The Q-monitor module 120 examines the information and
`time stamps in the host-in queue, and moves that
`information into a delayed-host-in queue memory 130 at the
`time determined by the receiver module 110 which placed the
`information in the host—in queue.
`For audit and
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`the Q-monitor module 120 adds
`record-keeping purposes,
`another time-stamp to each packet of information, and it
`moves and outputs the packets to the delayed-host-in queue,
`which can be a FIFO buffer, for transfer to a transaction
`processor 140.
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`The transaction processor 140 of the host processor 100
`is initialized when the host processor is initialized.
`In
`a prototype version, initialization would consist,
`in
`pertinent part, of the loading into on-line memory from
`bulk storage, e.g., a hard disk memory,
`the host database
`of authorized users,
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`transactions, screen displays, etc.
`After initializing, the transaction processor 140 accepts
`information from FIFO 130.
`The processor 140 preferably
`time-stamps each information packet from the FIFO 130, and
`verifies that the information is valid, e.g., represents a
`type of transaction performed by the system.
`If valid,
`the
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`transaction processor carries out the transaction by updat-
`ing host primary and secondary databases that reside,
`typi-
`cally, on a hard disk memory.
`The primary and secondary
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`databases are part of the redundancy of the host processor
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`100 and thus contribute to the system‘s failure resistance.
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`After updating the host primary and secondary databases,
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`the transaction processor 140 inserts into a host-out queue
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`the appropriate information for transmission to the user
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`terminals.
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`For audit purposes it is advantageous to add
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`another time-stamp to each packet of information as it is
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`inserted in the host-out queue, and to write the
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`In a prototype
`time-stamped information to an audit log.
`version, at predetermined intervals,
`the host database
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`would be dumped to bulk storage and, preferably, a backup
`bulk storage, and primary and secondary system recovery
`logs would be reset.
`In the prototype version,'the primary
`and secondary system recovery logs serve the purposes of
`
`the host primary and secondary databases.
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`The information in the host-out queue is communicated to
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`the user terminals through a plurality of host sender
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`there being one for each user terminal logged
`modules 150,
`into the system.
`The host sender module also
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`advantageously time stamps the information as it sends it
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`to the user terminals, and receives an acknowledgement of
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`receipt message from the user terminal.
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`In the event of a
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`transmission error, the host sender module retransmits the
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`information to the user terminals.
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`It will be appreciated
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`that the host sender module also transmits a message
`indicating that the host processor is still "alive" in the
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`event that the host-out queue is empty due to a period of
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`market inactivity.
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`As described in more detail below, each user terminal
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`200 preferably includes a large proportion of the instrucw
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`tions necessary for carrying out the present trading
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`system. Those instructions are advantageously implemented
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`in LISP, PASCAL or C, although LISP is preferable because
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`of the flexibility it provides. Referring now to the user
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`terminal 200 shown in the block diagram of Figure la which
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`is representative of the plurality of user terminals which
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`may be logged into the system simultaneously, a terminal
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`receiver module 210 is activated by the attempted
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`transmission from a host sender module 150 and receives the
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`information transmitted. After time-stamping the received
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`information,
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`the terminal receiver module 210 places the
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`information in a terminal-in queue 220, such as a FIFO
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`buffer, and transmits an acknowledgement message to the
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`host processor 100.
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`If the terminal-in queue 220 is full
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`or if an error in the information is detected by the
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`terminal receiver module,
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`the module 220 transmits a
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`not—acknowledged message to the host processor.
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`The
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`terminal receiver module 210 also handles the "alive"
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`message from the host processor 100 in the event of little
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`market activity.
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`Information in the terminal-in queue 220 is removed by a
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`terminal transaction processor 230 which time-stamps the
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`information and updates the terminal's database and
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`displays in accordance with the information through a FIFO
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`buffer 240. As described in more detail below,
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`those
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`updates reflect market activity and certain other
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`information requested by the user.
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`The information in the FIFO 240 presented to a terminal
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`user and information input to the terminal by the user are
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`transmitted through a terminal user interface module 250.
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`The module 250 has been designed using the ACTION!Tm
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`software development tool available from Expertelligence,
`
`Inc. The ACTION1Tm tool greatly facilitates the writing of
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`window—type code for controlling the display of the
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`microExplorerTm computer.
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`The module 250 carries out a
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`suitable log-in procedure to the host processor 100,
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`thereby causing the host processor to initialize the user
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`terminal database with suitable information from the host
`database.
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`After the user terminal 200 is initialized via the ter-
`
`minal user interface module 250, a terminal sender module
`
`260 establishes communication with the host processor 100.
`
`The sender module 260 removes data from a terminal—output
`
`queue 270, such as a FIFO buffer, attaches a terminal ad-
`
`dress and time-stamp and communicates the information to
`
`the host. When the terminal-output queue 270 is empty for
`
`a predetermined time period,
`
`the sender module 260
`
`transmits a suitable terminal "alive" message to the host.
`
`The sender module 260 is also responsive to the
`
`acknowledge, not-acknowledge, error messages received at
`
`the terminal from the host processor.
`
`In a preferred embodiment, a large proportion of the
`
`instructions for carrying out the trading system of the
`
`present invention are written in LISP or C and are resident
`
`0019
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`W0 99,1157‘
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`PCl'fUS90l80878
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`in each user terminal 200.
`
`In this way,
`
`the system's pro-
`
`gramming is easy to accomplish and the capacity of the com-
`
`munication link 300 is minimized. Referring to Figure 8,
`
`which is a block diagram of the organization of the
`
`instructions included in each user terminal 200,
`
`the
`
`instructions 400 resident in a user terminal advantageously
`
`comprise a plurality 410-460 of "objects", as they are con-
`
`ventionally referred to in LISP programming, or
`
`"applications", as they are referred to when using the
`
`ACTION!Tm software development tool kit.
`
`It will be
`
`understood that "objects" and "applications" correspond
`
`generally to "subroutines" in other programming languages.
`
`They include data and logic structures,
`
`including suitable
`
`pointers and other indexes,
`
`that enable execution of user
`
`requests and direct the logical flow of program execution
`
`among several "objects." Although illustrated in terms of
`
`a futures market, it will be understood that the
`
`organization of the instructions for carrying out a stock,
`
`bond or other securities market would be substantially
`
`similar.
`
`The START SCREEN application 410 is a LISP object which
`
`is executed automatically at turn on of a user terminal
`
`200.
`
`The START SCREEN application 410 verifies proper
`
`initialization of the terminal 200 and-queries the user
`
`whether logging into the system is desired.
`
`The LDGIN application 420 is executed in response to an
`
`appropriate user input, whether via mouse, keyboard or
`
`other entry means.
`
`The LOGIN application 420 queries the
`
`user for his user name and for his password which, when
`
`0020
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`-19-.
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`input, are communicated to the host processor 100 for
`
`review.
`
`If the user name and password are authorized for
`
`the LDGIN application 420 responds to receipt of an
`access,
`authorization signal
`from the host processor by
`
`transferring execution to the MENU application 430.
`
`If
`
`authorization is denied, e.g., because the authorized user
`had previously requested his terminal to be "locked out"
`during his vacation, execution is returned to the START
`SCREEN application 410.
`
`Once access is granted to the user terminal 200, a MENU
`application 430 is executed which queries the user as to
`which of the other applications, i.e., VIEW PIT 450 and EN-
`TER PIT 460,
`is desired. As described further below,
`the
`
`indicating which of the trading pits, e.g., financial secu-
`rities, farm commodities, etc.,
`is desired for View or en-
`try. Similarly,
`the SELECT PIT application 440 could indi-
`cate which security or securities exchange is desired. De-
`pending on the pit selected and the action desired,
`logical
`execution of the user terminal program would be directed to
`the VIEW PIT application 450 or the ENTER PIT application
`460.
`In addition, it will be understood that in response
`to the user input,
`the latest relevant information is
`
`communicated to the terminal 200 from the host processor
`100.
`
`0021
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`-20-
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`The VIEW PIT application 450 implements the aspects of
`
`the present trading system relating to identifying to the
`
`user who is in the trading pit selected for viewing.
`
`Thus,
`
`as described in more detail elsewhere,
`
`the application 450
`
`includes LISP objects for generating trader icons with
`
`proper identifications, for generating pop—up windows that
`
`provide additional identifying information about a selected
`
`trader icon, and for quitting the VIEW PIT application 450
`
`and returning to one of the other applications.
`
`The ENTER PIT application 460 is the LISP object which
`
`implements the active trading features of the present
`
`invention.
`
`The ENTER PIT application 450 advantageously
`
`comprises (1) a Pit Pane object for creating the trading
`
`arena portion of the display,
`
`(2) a Pit Markets object for
`
`creating the display portion relating to other markets in
`
`the pit displayed in the trading arena,
`
`(3) an other Pits
`
`object for creating the display portion relating to the
`
`user-selection of other pits and markets, and (4) a Supple-
`
`mentary Information object for creating the display portion
`
`relating to the user—selection of news services and tele-
`
`phone, as well as the personal trading history, recent
`
`trades list, trader entry/exit list, and for dealing with
`
`user entry of information.
`
`The Pit Pane object itself comprises (i) a price display
`
`object for generating the blue and red price displays and
`
`their included information for the current market, (ii) a
`
`plurality of trader objects for generating the randomly
`
`positioned trader icons in the trading arena, and (iii) a
`
`priority box object for generating and controlling the
`
`0022
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`WO 90/11571
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`PCIYUS90/008'?8
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`-21-
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`the price display
`In addition,
`green priority box display.
`object also includes two trader objects for generating the
`user's own trader icon in the trading arena, one for
`
`bidding and one for offering.
`
`The Pit Markets object which generates the portion of
`the ENTER PIT application's display relating to other mar-
`kets in the pit of the trading arena also advantageously
`executes a price display object and two trader objects, one
`for bidding and one for offering, for generating the user's
`own icon in the other markets displayed on the user's
`
`the other Pits object executes
`terminal screen. Similarly,
`a suitable price display object for the portion of the dis-
`play relating to other pits.
`It will be noted that since,
`in the preferred embodiment,
`the other pits’ price displays
`do not include trader icons,
`the other Pits object need not
`execute a trader object.
`
`the Supplementary Information object exe-
`Furthermore,
`cutes individual objects for carrying out the other aspects
`of the trading system, e.g.,
`the telephone,
`the display of
`which traders have entered and left the pit since the user
`has entered,
`the display of the most recent trades made in
`the pit,
`the user's personal trading history,
`the display
`of messages from the host processor 100 and user terminal
`200, and the user's input, e.g.,
`trading activity, screen
`formatting, etc.
`
`It will be understood that subdividing the tasks of the
`terminal instructions into LISP objects in the manner de-
`scribed significantly minimizes the complexity of and ef-
`
`0023
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`PCTIU590/D0878
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`_
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`—
`
`fort necessary for the implementation of the present
`
`system.
`
`The bandwidth or other equivalent measure of capacity
`
`required of comunication link 300 between each user termi-
`
`nal 200 and the host processor 100 depends on the volume of
`
`transactions to be carried out by the present auction trad—
`
`ing system.
`
`It has been found that for after~hours trading
`
`at the Chicago Board of Trade, a normal telephone link's
`
`capacity of 9600 BAUD is sufficient because of certain
`
`efficiencies inherent in the Macintosh family of computers.
`
`Those efficiencies relate to the amount of data needed by
`
`one Macintosh computer to inform a second Macintosh of the
`
`contents of its output display, and are inherent to the
`
`Macintosh operating system.
`
`In a preferred embodiment of the invention, communica-
`
`tion between the user terminal 200 and the host processor
`
`100 is carried out through a combination of two-way,
`
`inter-
`
`active communication and one-way, "broadcast"
`
`communication.
`
`The "broadcast" feature is implemented by
`
`the host processor sending to all logged in user terminals
`
`the information necessary to update their displays in light
`
`of the trading system activity.
`
`Such bursts would
`
`preferably occur at predetermined intervals, e.g., one
`
`second.
`
`The remaining capacity of the communication link
`
`300 is then devoted to interactive communication. As
`
`described above, it will be understood that suitable
`
`selection of hardware components can minimize the link
`
`capacity needed for the system.
`
`of course, communication
`
`technologies which provide very high capacity links, e.g.,
`
`0024
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`_ 23 _
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`television vertical blanking interval
`fiber optic links,
`links, etc., can also be used.
`
`Recognizing that the broadcast of system updating in-
`formation occurs only at predetermined intervals,
`the trad-
`ing system preferably resolves timing conflicts by noting
`which of conflicting user actions arrived first at the host
`
`processor 100.
`
`For example, if a first user clicks on a
`
`second user's bid icon after the second user has changed
`his/her bid quantity
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