Intermarket Trading System - ITS

The ITS connects many of the major U.S. exchanges (as well as some smaller regional ones). It's a computer system that facilitates buy and sell orders, speeding transactions and providing better price discovery.

Members include your usual Wall Street types: brokers, market makers, three-martini-lunch havers.

The ITS was formed in 1978, when it probably seemed very cool. Like VHS players or cassette tapes. However, despite being (for the time) a cutting-edge computer system, it was based on the fact that most trading took place on exchange floors with (mostly) guys shouting at each other.

The ITS was better than shouting, but in the 21st Century, some have questioned whether it was up to the modern trading environment. Specifically, NASDAQ withdrew from the system in 2005 and set up its own electronic platform.