A computer-implemented financial management system provides the trading of
securities via a network using virtual currency. A server computer
receives buy and sell orders for derivative financial instruments from a
plurality of client computers. The server computer attempts to match the
buy and sell orders and then generates a market price through the use of
a virtual specialist program executed by the server computer. The virtual
specialist program responds to an imbalance in the matching of the buy
and sell orders. The virtual currency accumulated by HSX account holders
as a result of successful trading may be converted to another currency,
credited toward the cost of merchandise provided through a vendor's web
site, etc.