Systems and methods for providing neutral price improvement

Abstract

Electronic trading systems and methods are provided that permit traders to submit price improvement orders that are traded at predetermined pricing increments and that maintain a position in a trading stack based on the size of other orders already existing in the stack at the time the order is submitted. This type of price improvement relates to neutral price improvement according to the invention. Neutral price improvement represents an option that permits a trader to opt out of being subjected to the trading rules and/or scheme governing a particular feature (e.g., price improvement), yet still permit traders to engage in competitive trading. In such a system, the trading rules may be applied generally to all orders in the system, except for orders submitted with the neutral price improvement option.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.