Abstract: Commodity transactions can be efficiently managed in an electronic marketplace where commodities can be bought and sold. The electronic marketplace can include various information including bid and ask prices for the commodities. To reduce risk to buyers, hedge transactions can be automatically generated. A buyer may set a cash price using a sliding basis value that can be correlated to a futures market. Additionally, real-time market information can be monitored for numerous markets to simultaneously execute margin targets. Traders can also display graphical information to help them understand trends and make informed trading decisions.

Abstract: An Average Pricing Contract (APC) specifies the type of commodity and quantity of the commodity to be sold, as well as a plurality of pricing points for pricing the commodity. The APC stipulates that the sale price of the commodity will be based on an average of current cash market prices at the specified pricing points. The current cash market price of a commodity can be determined by obtaining a futures price of the commodity for a particular delivery location, and adjusting this futures price by a predetermined basis value. The APC will also state the delivery periods for physical delivery of the commodity and include the physical delivery location. An optional automatic hedging transaction is available for buyers who wish to offset risk that the commodity price will unexpectedly increase. In addition, the present invention can include displaying the progress of pricing the commodity, displaying final pricing information, and displaying the progress of delivery.

Abstract: Methods, systems, and computer program products are provided for automatic image recognition of standard shapes which include a core-based deformable loci skeletal grid used to define and represent an object via a model template. The template includes deformable segments, the changes of which are measurable against the deformed model corresponding to an object in a subsequent image. Statistical correlation techniques optimize the match to further refine the shape of the subsequent image.