System and method of responding to orders in a securities trading system

Abstract

A bartering system implements barters between a plurality of parties each having one or more classes of items available for barter. Preferably, barter orders are created by designating a selected quantity of a first class of items to be bartered, designating a date range for transferring title of the first class items to be bartered, designating a barter value of the first class of items to be bartered, and designating a second class of items to be acquired. Barter orders are posted via the Internet to a barter database and may be displayed via the Internet. Posted barter orders whose first class of items match the second class of items of a barterer's order are preferably displayed. Posted barter orders from the display are selected to effectuate a barter transaction which combines a barterer's barter order with the selected posted order(s). Toolkits are provided for enabling parties, particularly marketmakers, to respond to barter orders in an automated manner. Marketmakers can use the marketmaker toolkits to populate a database, or order book, with barter orders, which can be traded against by traders. Other toolkits are provided for enabling traders to establish barter orders grouped in baskets based on market fundamentals and risk characteristics. Still other toolkits are provided for enabling retail traders to establish contingent barter orders, or barter orders that are only processed upon the occurrence of a specified condition.