A SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONDUCTING SECURITIES TRANSACTIONS OVER A COMPUTER NETWORK

摘要

The system and method of the preferred embodiment supports trading of securities over the Internet both on national exchanges and outside the national exchanges. In a preferred embodiment, users are subscribers to a securities trading service offered over the Internet. Preferably, each subscriber to this service is simultaneously connected from his own computer to a first system which provides user-to-user trading capabilities and to a second system which is a broker/dealer (42) system of his/her choice. The system providing the user-to-user trading services preferably includes a root server (50) and a hierarchical network of replicated servers supporting replicated databases. The user-to-user system provides real-time continuously updated stock information and facilitates user-to-user trades that have been approved by the broker/dealer systems with which it interacts.