The History of MarketsWiki

MarketsWiki is an online, open-source knowledge base for current and historical information about the global exchange-traded capital, derivatives, environmental and related over-the-counter (OTC) markets. It was started by John J. Lothian & Company, Inc., a financially focused new media company and commodity trading advisor (CTA) owned solely by John J. Lothian, and grows through contributions from paid readers of the John Lothian Newsletter and Environmental Markets Newsletter and a team of professional financial journalists, educators and consultants. 
The effort was officially launched on Jan. 11, 2008 at the mid-winter conference of the Security Traders Association of Chicago just before an options exchange leader panel was moderated by John J. Lothian. 
== What is MarketsWiki? Video ==
 Image:mwvideo_edit.png
 desc none
 default Signup_page	
 Image:mwvideo_suggest.png
 desc none
 default	
 Image:mwvideo_sponsor.png
 desc none
 default Sponsorship_Opportunities	
 Image:mwvideo_twitter.png
 desc none
 default	
 Image:mwvideo_facebook.png
 desc none
 default
== The Creation of MarketsWiki == 
The wiki project was structured in two stages; a pre-launch initial stage and post-launch stage. During the pre-launch stage, the firm secured sponsorships and built a team of professional journalists and consultants to help sponsors reformat their publicly available information from Web sites and other materials onto the wiki. The firm also offered consulting services to sponsors to help them build their own internal wikis. 
MarketsWiki officially launched to the public on Jan. 11, 2008. After the launch, the firm initiated a campaign to build the number of contributors to MarketsWiki. The firm then began to include regular wiki updates in a special section of the John Lothian and Environmental Markets Newsletters.
== Founder ==
John J. Lothian is a futures broker, newsletter editor and publisher, commodity trading advisor (CTA) and industry consultant as well as a frequent moderator of industry panels. Lothian is the president & CEO of John J. Lothian & Company, Inc.
== Sponsors == 
There are five levels of MarketsWiki Sponsorship with varying costs and benefits (Premium, Partner, Contributor, Supporter and Friend). The Premium sponsorship is the most recent addition, and its benefits include a space on top of the MarketsWiki front page.
== Use of Social Media to Grow MarketsWiki ==
Social media outlets such as Twitter and Facebook have been used to grow MarketsWiki's reader base, as well as inform industry participants in a timely manner about issues pertinent to them. The MarketsWiki "handle" on Twitter is @MarketsWiki.
The MarketsWiki staff and relevant guest speakers have also hosted presentations about the use of social media in the financial industry. 
On Sept. 17 of 2009, the MarketsWiki Twitter Event "Tweeting Opportunities & Pitfalls" was held at the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE).
== MarketsWiki World of Opportunity Event ==
The inaugural MarketsWiki World of Opportunity Event was held on Oct. 27, 2010 at the CME Group Auditorium. Experts and leading exchange representatives shared their personal experiences in accessing international markets. 
== Staff ==
See: MarketsWiki Development Team
The Marketswiki Development Team started, organized, managed and produced all the foundation articles and content for MarketsWiki. The team is composed of individuals who are employees and contract workers of John J. Lothian & Company, Inc. 
MarketsReformWiki was led by Jim Kharouf and Douglas Ashburn.
== MarketsWiki Page of the Day ==
Each week day, staffers post a "Page of the Day," usually relevant to daily headlines, to MarketsWiki and related social media accounts. The initiative was started in 2010.
== MarketsReformWiki ==
After the financial crisis of 2008, it had become clear that drastic regulatory reform of U.S. financial markets was imminent. Anticipating a market need for a central site to aggregate and archive the hundreds of proposed rules and rule changes, John J. Lothian & Company secured the domain name "MarketsReformWiki.com" in May of 2009. 
The site was launched on Feb. 28, 2011, featuring news feeds from regulatory agencies, featured video, embedded documents, and an interactive regulatory calendar. The knowledge-base is designed to include rules established by the the Dodd-Frank Act, as well as regulatory changes from the European Union, United Kingdom and key Asian financial centers. 
MarketsReformWiki also offers viewers timelines for rule changes, comment letters, white papers, comprehensive reports on open regulatory agency hearings, testimony, as well as relevant videos that address regulatory changes.
== MarketsWiki in the Press ==
*Does IT Matter?
*An Encyclopedia for Trader Types
*A Wikipedia for Traders
== References ==
Category:MarketsWiki Launch
Category:MarketsWiki Video
Category:MarketsWiki
Category:John J. Lothian & Company, Inc.
Category:MarketsWiki Page of the Day