Typically, an electronic exchange provides an automatic matching process between traders, or more specifically, between buyers and sellers. Traders are connected to an electronic exchange by way of a communication link to facilitate electronic messaging between themselves and the exchange. Market information, which is included in the messaging, is received and displayed to the traders on their trading screens. Upon viewing the market information, traders can take certain actions including the action of sending buy or sell orders to the exchange.
In general, when a buy order or a sell order is sent to an electronic exchange, the exchange's computer logic checks the conditions associated with the order, for example price and quantity, and determines if a match exists. If a match does not exist, the exchange's computer logic prioritizes the order with other orders of the same price in the exchange's electronic order book. When the order conditions are satisfied in the market, or equivalently, a match exists, a trade occurs.
In many instances, spotting an opportunity in the market and capitalizing on it before the competition often separates those traders who are successful from those traders who are not. An important component in capitalizing on an opportunity involves the efficient assimilation of market information. Most conventional trading applications receive electronic messaging and attempt to display the market information in some particular fashion to the trader. Until recently, however, market information was simply displayed on a trading screen in a manner similar to how it was received from the exchange without much customization or formatting. Now developers are beginning to create sophisticated trading screens to interface electronic exchanges. Depending on the actual layout, however, some trading screens are more successful than others in displaying market information to the traders.
To be a successful trader in electronic markets, one must be able to assimilate large amounts of market information and react accordingly more quickly than other competing market participants. It is therefore desirable to improve the way market information is displayed to the trader and to improve the efficiency of order entry by using such displays.