Better Alternative Trading System (BATS)

You have to give the BATS credit for branding. Imagine if Pepsi was called Tastier Other Kind Of Soda Yum (TOKSY). Wouldn't you just love a refreshing TOKSY?

As its name tends to imply, the BATS is an alternative trading system (whether it is truly "better" or not, we'll leave up to traders), competing against the likes of the NYSE or NASDAQ. It was founded in 2005, and is home to trading in stocks, forex, and options. It also makes a specialty of exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, which are stock-like instruments for investing in indexes.

The exchange became the Bats Global Market after moving into Europe in 2008. It was acquired by CBOE Holdings in 2017, joining a company that already owned the CBOE.