Trading Tools for Electronic Trading

1 . A method for displaying market information corresponding to a commodity being traded at an electronic exchange, comprising:

receiving market data relating to the commodity from an electronic exchange, the market data comprising an inside market having a current highest bid price and a current lowest ask price available for the commodity and further comprising market depth for the commodity;

determining a plurality of price levels at which the commodity can be traded based on the received market data;

defining a first price range comprising a first plurality of price levels that are lower than the current highest bid price;

defining a second price range comprising a second plurality of price levels that are higher than the current lowest ask price;

defining an order quantity threshold range for the first plurality of price levels and the second plurality of price levels;

determining, based on the received market depth, that there is at least one price level in the first price range and the second price range at which an order quantity falls in the order quantity threshold range; and

providing a quantity indicator for each of the at least one price level at which the order quantity falls in the order quantity threshold range.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

displaying a first indicator in a first location of a plurality of locations, each location corresponding to a price level along a price axis comprising the plurality of price levels, the first indicator representing the current highest bid price for the commodity;

displaying a second indicator in a second location of the plurality of locations, the second indicator representing the current lowest ask price for the commodity;

updating the display of the first and second indicators such that at least one of the first and second indicators is moved relative to the price axis to a new location corresponding to a new price level along the price axis in response to the receipt of new data representing a new inside market;

displaying the quantity indicator at each location of the plurality of locations corresponding to each of the at least one price level at which the order quantity falls in the order quantity threshold range in the first price range and the second price range; and

updating the display of the quantity indicator such that the quantity indicator is moved relative to the price axis to a new location corresponding to a new at least one price level at which an order quantity falls in the order quantity threshold range in a new first price range or a new second price range determined in response to receipt of new data representing a new market depth.

3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining that no order quantity falls in the order quantity threshold range at each price level in the new first price range and the second price range; and

refraining from providing the quantity indicator.

4 . The method of claim 2 , wherein displaying each quantity indicator comprises color-coding each location corresponding to each price level at which the order quantity falls in the order quantity threshold range.

5 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

displaying the first indicator in a bid display region comprising a plurality of locations, each location corresponding to a price level along the price axis; and

displaying the second indicator in an ask display region comprising a plurality of locations, each location corresponding to a price level along the price axis;

displaying an order entry region comprising a plurality of locations corresponding to the plurality of price levels along the price axis, such that a selection of one of the plurality of locations sends a trade order to the electronic exchange for the commodity, the trade order comprising a price based on the selected location and a default order quantity; and

sending the order to the electronic exchange in response to the selection of one of the plurality of locations by a single action of a user input device.

6 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising:

displaying a bid order entry region comprising a plurality of locations for sending bid trade orders; and

displaying an ask order entry region comprising a plurality of locations for sending ask trade orders.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the bid order entry region and the bid display region overlap, and wherein the ask order entry region and the ask display region overlap.

8 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the single action of the user input device consists of a single click of a mouse.

9 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the single action of the user input device consists of a double click of a mouse.

10 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the single action consists of one or more clicks of a user input device within a short period of time.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein providing the quantity indicator comprises displaying the at least one price level at which the order quantity pending for the commodity falls in the order quantity threshold range.

12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the order quantity threshold range is defined to be higher than a user-defined order quantity value.

13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the order quantity threshold range is defined to be lower than a user defined order quantity value.

14 . The method of claim 1 , wherein providing a quantity indicator for each of the at least one price level at which the order quantity falls in the order quantity rage comprises providing a quantity indicator at each of the at least one price level in relation of price levels of the plurality of price levels that are in view on a graphical user interface.