Abstract: A method and system for facilitating trading of equity and index options is provided. The system incentivizes market makers to voluntarily agree to restrict the bid/offer spread on price quotes for options by enabling the market makers to submit batches of bids and offers simultaneously. The system also provides protection to the market makers by enabling withdrawal of certain bids and offers if a cumulative delta on traded options has been exceeded. The system also provides limits on the rates at which individual traders and the overall market submit bids and offers. The system provides summarization of market data to enable market makers to have relevant and timely data at all stages. In this manner, the system achieves increased liquidity of the equity and index options markets.

Abstract: A method and system for facilitating trading of a plurality of financial derivative products are provided. Financial derivative products called strips, packs, bundles, and condors are defined, and each is based on combinations of quarterly deliveries of a short term interest rate (STIR) futures contract. The system includes a server at which each product is actively traded, and an interface in communication with the server. The interface enables a user to buy or sell a product. The server accepts bids and offers for strips, packs, bundles, and condors, and also accepts bids and offers for individual quarterly deliveries of the STIR futures contract. The server automatically combines accepted bids and offers into sets of quarterly deliveries, and then automatically matches resulting combinations with bids or offers for strips, packs, bundles, or condors, such that market efficiency and liquidity are increased.

Abstract: A method and system for facilitating trading of equity and index options is provided. The system incentivizes market makers to voluntarily agree to restrict the bid/offer spread on price quotes for options by enabling the market makers to submit batches of bids and offers simultaneously. The system also provides protection to the market makers by enabling withdrawal of certain bids and offers if a cumulative delta on traded options has been exceeded. The system also provides limits on the rates at which individual traders and the overall market submit bids and offers. The system provides summarization of market data to enable market makers to have relevant and timely data at all stages. In this manner, the system achieves increased liquidity of the equity and index options markets.

Abstract: A method and system for facilitating trading of financial products is provided. The method includes receiving bids and/or offers for a financial product and aggregating bids and offers that are at the same price level. For financial products that include calendar spreads, such as short-term interest rate futures or options, bids and/or offers may be implied in or implied out of other bids and offers by combining them appropriately. When an offer or bid having a matching price level to the aggregated bid or offer is received, the aggregated bid or offer is divided in a prorated proportion based on the number of lots in the matching offer or bid and based on the numbers of lots in the individual bids and offers that make up the aggregated bid or offer. Trades are then executed using the matching offers or bids and the corresponding prorated portions of the original bids or offers.