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.
Related or Semi-related Video
Finance: What are Pink Sheets?4 Views
Finance a la shmoop what are pink sheets? well they're just white sheets which got [White sheets in a washer]
washed with one new red sock thrown in yeah you know what we're talking about but
they're also a publication by the national quotation Bureau that lists
prices of over the counter or OTC stocks usually shares of delisted that are very
small thinly traded companies that pretty much well nobody cares about [Man underwater wearing snorkle and goggles]
anymore sorry guys just keeping it real other than you know bottom feeder
investors tax loss buyers and well the cardiologists investment Club of Greater
South Milwaukee yeah Bert we're looking at you
well these shares don't need to file papers with the SEC or meet pretty much
any form of registration rules the way that stocks on exchanges do they tend to
be highly illiquid and have maybe a single dealer making a market in them
that is if you want to buy them well you make an appointment for you know a [Man sitting in a waiting room]
see-you-next-tuesday at 11:30 a.m. and negotiate directly with the dealer who
may or may not have a few shares laying around to sell you or to buy from you
thanks to that publication which used to be printed on yes pink paper
pink sheets of papers, see the clever naming there...Trading OTC stocks is
sometimes referred to as trading on the pink sheets if a company's stock symbol
includes the letters PK well it trades on Pink Sheets no word on whether
matching shams or throw pillows are included when you trade those so you'll [A bed with pink sheets appears]
have to look that up on your own
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