Apparatus and system for defining an automated spread trading parameter

1. An apparatus, comprising:

a processor;

a communication device coupled to said processor and adapted to communicate with a trader device via a temporary computer communication channel; and

a storage device in communication with said processor and storing instructions adapted to be executed by said processor to:

receive via the communication device an indication of a first investment from said trader device;

receive via the communication device an indication of a second investment from the trader device;

store an association between the first investment and the second investment;

receive from the trader device a trading parameter to be associated with both the first and second investments, said receiving the trading parameter being performed via the communication device;

store the received trading parameter, in association with both the first and second investments, for use by an automated spread trading system;

retrieve the stored trading parameter; and

transmit the stored trading parameter, via the communication device, to the trader device for display to a trader.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said storage device further stores at least one of: (i) a client database, (ii) a trader database, or (iii) a deal definition database.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said communication device is adapted to communicate with at least one of: (i) the trader device, (ii) an order processing system, (iii) an automated spread trading system, (iv) a deal dictionary tool, (v) an automated trading strategy component, or (vi) a system risk control tool.

4. A method to facilitate spread trading, comprising:

receiving from a trader device an indication of a first investment;

receiving from the trader device an indication of a second investment;

storing an association between the first investment and the second investment;

receiving from the trader device a trading parameter to be associated with both the first and second investments, said receiving the trading parameter being performed via a temporary computer communication channel;

storing the received trading parameter, in association with both the first and second investments, for use by an automated spread trading system;

retrieving the stored trading parameter; and

transmitting the stored trading parameter, via the temporary computer communication channel, to the trader device for display to a trader.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the communication channel is associated with a Web site.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the trader device is associated with at least one of: (i) the trader, or (ii) a client associated with a plurality of traders.

7. The method of claim 4 , wherein the automated spread trading system is associated with a risk arbitrage trading strategy.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the first investment comprises an acquirer stock and the second investment comprises a target stock.

9. The method of claim 4 , wherein at least one of the investments are associated with a plurality of investments.

10. The method of claim 4 , wherein the automated spread trading system is associated with a fixed income strategy.

11. The method of claim 4 , wherein the trading parameter comprises at least one of: (i) a trader identifier, (ii) a trader device identifier, (iii) a client identifier, or (iv) an account identifier.

12. The method of claim 4 , wherein the trading parameter comprises at least one of: (i) an investment identifier, (ii) a stock identifier, or (iii) a deal identifier.

13. The method of claim 4 , wherein the trading parameter comprises at least one of: (i) a service, or (ii) an exchange.

14. The method of claim 4 , wherein the trading parameter comprises at least one of: (i) a dividend value, (ii) a sell action, (iii) a round lot indication, or (iv) an order initiation indication.

15. The method of claim 4 , wherein the trading parameter comprises at least one of: (i) a lower limit, (ii) an upper limit, (iii) a ratio, or (iv) a cash value.

16. The method of claim 4 , wherein the trading parameter comprises a strategy associated with the first and second investments.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the strategy comprises at least one of: (i) a follow spread strategy, (ii) a distribution strategy, (iii) a dollar-to-dollar strategy, (iv) a share-to-share strategy, or (v) an order-for-order strategy.

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein the trading parameter comprises an authorization to automatically generate orders in accordance with the strategy.

19. The method of claim 4 , wherein the trading parameter comprises at least one of: (i) a date, (ii) a time, (iii) a duration, (iv) start information, (v) end information, or (vi) a communication address independent of the temporary computer communication channel.

20. The method of claim 4 , wherein said storing comprises storing the information in association with at least one of: (i) one of a plurality of traders, (ii) a client associated with a plurality of traders, or (iii) one of a plurality of accounts associated with a trader.

21. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

receiving a trader identifier; and

verifying the trader identifier.

22. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

determining risk control information.

23. The method of claim 22 , wherein the risk control information comprises at least one of: (i) a maximum share position for the pair of investments, (ii) a maximum dollar position for the pair of investments, (iii) a maximum share position for an account, (iv) a maximum dollar position for an account, (v) a maximum open order shares amount for the pair of investments, (vi) a maximum open dollar amount for the pair of investments, (vii) a maximum number of open orders for the pair of investments, (viii) a maximum open order shares amount for an account, (ix) a maximum open dollar amount for an account, (x) a maximum number of open orders for an account, or (xi) a range around market price.

24. The method of claim 22 , wherein said determining is based on at least one of: (i) trader information, or (ii) information received from an operator.

25. The method of claim 22 , further comprising:

storing the risk control information for use by the automated spread trading system.

26. The method of claim 4 , wherein the trading parameter is still stored after a termination of the temporary computer communication channel.

27. The method of claim 4 , wherein the temporary computer communication channel is associated with a Web site.

28. A computer-readable medium storing instructions adapted to be executed by a processor to perform a method to facilitate spread trading, said method comprising:

receiving from a trader device an indication of a first investment;

receiving from the trader device an indication of a second investment;

storing an association between the first investment and the second investment;

receiving from the trader device a trading parameter to be associated with both the first and second investments, said receiving the trading parameter being performed via a temporary computer communication channel;

storing the received trading parameter, in association with both the first and second investments, for use by an automated spread trading system;

retrieving the stored trading parameter; and

transmitting the stored trading parameter, via the temporary computer communication channel, to the trader device for display to a trader.

29. A method to facilitate spread trading, comprising:

receiving from a trader device an indication of a first investment;

receiving from the trader device an indication of a second investment;

storing an association between the first investment and the second investment;

receiving from the trader device a trading parameter to be associated with both the first and second investments, said receiving the trading parameter being performed via a computer communication channel potentially accessible by a plurality of unrelated trader devices;

storing the received trading parameter, in association with both the first and second investments, for use by an automated spread trading system;

retrieving the stored trading parameter; and

transmitting the stored trading parameter, via the temporary computer communication channel, to the trader device for display to a trader.

30. A method to facilitate spread trading, comprising:

receiving from a trader device an indication of a first investment;

receiving from the trader device an indication of a second investment;

storing an association between the first investment and the second investment;

receiving from the trader device a trading parameter to be associated with both the first and second investments, said receiving the trading parameter being performed via a public computer communication network;

storing the received trading parameter, in association with both the first and second investments, for use by an automated spread trading system;

retrieving the stored trading parameter; and

transmitting the stored trading parameter, via the temporary computer communication channel to the trader device for display to a trader.

31. A computer-implemented method to facilitate risk arbitrage trading, comprising:

receiving a trader identifier via a Web site;

verifying the trader identifier;

receiving via the Web site the following information:

an acquirer stock identifier,

a target stock identifier,

a selected risk arbitrage trading strategy, and

an authorization to automatically generate orders in accordance with the strategy;

storing the received acquirer stock identifier in association with the received target stock identifier;

storing the received selected risk arbitrage trading strategy, in association with both the received acquirer stock identifier and received target stock identifier, for use by an automated spread trading system;

retrieving the stored selected risk arbitrage trading strategy; and

transmitting an indication of the selected risk arbitrage trading strategy via a communication network to a device associated with the trader identifier.