One aspect of the invention includes a trading system that enables a trader to systematically layout and describe trading processes and to configure the trading system to automatically perform trading functions for the trader. This aspect frees the trader from the task of implementing those processes and enables the trader to focus on trading. The trading system may respond and react faster than the trader, and the trader may, in turn, concentrate on an overall trading strategy versus concentrating on implementing that strategy. In another aspect, the invention enables the trading system to perform a trading using snapshot processing.