Auction market with price improvement mechanism

A method of auctioning financial products over a distributed, networked computer system, said method comprising:

• entering orders for financial products into the distributed, networked computer system, said orders specifying a price for the financial product, a quantity of the financial product and exposure time which the order can remain active;
• entering responses to orders for the product, said responses specifying a price and quantity;
• and for a first one of said orders,
• matching said first order, to the responses and contra-side orders, during an interval determined by the exposure time specified by said first order;
• and
• expiring the first one of the orders if no matching responses or contra-side orders are received during the exposure period.

A computer program product for auctioning products, said computer program product residing on a computer readable medium comprising instructions for causing a computer to:

• receive an order that was entered for a product, the order specifying price, quantity and exposure time;
• receive a response that was entered in response to an order, the response specifying a price, price improvement, and quantity;
• and
• match the order with the response during the exposure time specified by the order.

A system for auctioning financial products over a distributed, networked computer system, said system comprising:

• a plurality of workstations for entering orders for financial products into the distributed, networked computer system, said orders specifying a price for the financial product, a quantity of the financial product and exposure time which the order can remain active;
• a plurality of workstations for entering responses to orders for the product, said responses specifying a price and quantity;
• a server computer coupled to the workstations for entering the orders and the responses, said server computer executing a server process that for a first one of said orders,
• determines a match to said first order with the responses and contra-side orders during an interval determined by the exposure time specified by said first order.

A system for auctioning financial products over a distributed, networked computer system comprises:

• a plurality of workstations for entering orders for financial products into the distributed, networked computer system, the orders specify a price for the financial product, a quantity of the financial product and exposure time which the order can remain active;
• a plurality of workstations for entering predefined relative indications and responses to orders for the product, the predefined relative indications specifying a willingness to trade, the responses specifying a price and quantity;
• and
• a server computer coupled to the workstations for entering the orders, predefined relative indications, and the responses, with the server computer executing a server process, said server process comprising software to:
• determine a match to a first order with the predefined relative indications, responses and contra-side orders during an interval determined by the exposure time specified by said first order.