A system for determining an opening price for products traded over a distributed, networked computer system is described. The system includes a plurality of workstations for entering orders for financial products into the distributed, networked computer system, said orders specifying a quantity of the financial product. A plurality of workstations for entering orders and a server computer coupled to the workstations, said server computer executing a server process that determines an opening price for the product. The opening price process posting an allocation message to market maker participants to communicate an expected allocation of the imbalance for execution at an initial opening of the market in the event that the imbalance exists at the opening.

A system for causing investment returns for individual investors in a fund to correspond to occurrence of selected events with respect to investment options selected by said individual investors, the system including instructions for: defining a plurality of said investment options each having a yield calculator, said calculator having a value related to occurrence of predefined events; selecting a nominal yield of said fund; allocating a portion of said nominal yield to each of said investment options ratably with respect to the portion of said value of each said yield calculator bears to all values of said yield calculators; calculating, on a periodic basis, a change in total value of assets owned by said fund and ratably allocating said change to investors in said fund; and periodically redetermining said values in each of said yield calculators by measuring occurrence of said predefined events during a selected measuring period.

A system and method for providing a computer component exchange in a network for executing buy orders for purchasing computer components is disclosed. A plurality of owner-processors are electrically connected to the network. At least a first owner-processor is adapted to transmit electronic buy orders through the network for purchasing computer components. At least a second owner-processor is adapted to receive buy orders from the network. The system comprises an exchange server complex that is electrically connected to the network having plurality of investment instruments comprising shares of ownership interests in the exchange server complex that are stored as data records in an accounting database. At least some of the owner-processors are capable of being associated with at least one of the shares, thereby defining an ownership interest in the exchange server complex for a proprietor of the respective owner-processor. Data stored in the accounting database represents allocation of net profits from fees charged for transactions in the exchange server complex among the owner-processors that are associated with the shares. The net-profits are represented as data records in the accounting database for tracking net profits earned in the exchange server complex. The system may use a standard data format for searching and exchanging buy orders and component specifications such as that described by ROSETTANET.

A method is provided for presenting short-sale information associated with a plurality of securities and includes the steps of receiving the short-sale information from at least one source; filtering the short-sale information and presenting the filtered short-sale information according to at least one display criteria.

The present invention is a novel methodology for predicting future outcomes that uses small numbers of individuals participating in an imperfect information market. Determining their individual characteristics and performing a nonlinear aggregation of their predictions, provides a probability assessment of the future outcome of an uncertain event. In one embodiment of the present invention the aggregated prediction is compared to both the objective probability of its occurrence and the performance of the market as a whole. In one embodiment, the present invention includes a forecasting process comprising, running an information market, extracting participant characteristics, performing a query process, and aggregating the participant characteristics and results of the query process. The information market is designed to elicit characteristics of the participants include participant risk inclination and ability to analyze information provided in the information market.