Archipelago

Even in finance terms, an archipelago can mean what it usually means: a group of islands...like the kind where billionaires might spend luxury vacations or take advantage of a friendly banking system to avoid taxes.

However, the name Archipelago (with the capital "a") has a specialized finance meaning as well. It is the name of a particular electronic communications network, or ECN...a kind of computerized stock information and trading network. Founded in the late 1990s, Archipelago helped pioneer the ECN space.

In the early 2000s, Archipelago had expanded to become an electronic exchange, allowing computerized trading of stocks listed on places like the New York Stock Exchange and the NASDAQ. It became popular with both retail day traders and financial institutions, who preferred its low-cost, high-speed features, compared to traditional exchanges, like the NYSE, which still relied heavily on guys in ugly jackets yelling at each other.

The NYSE eventually grew tired of the competition and merged with Archipelago in 2006, creating the NYSE Arca.