The Most Popular Stories of 2016 on JohnLothianNews.com


John Lothian
Executive Chairman
As we end 2016 we should all stop in at Ceres in the Chicago Board of Trade Building for a stiff drink and to shake the hand of Billy Assimos. He was the focus of the most read story on johnlothiannews.com in 2016, according to Google Analytics.
Sarah Rudolph penned the story, “Billy Assimos, the Face of Ceres” in June of this year. Assimos is the longtime manager of Ceres, a restaurant and bar in the CBOT Building, and a friend of many. I guess it pays to serve the stiffest drinks in Chicago.
Coming in second place was Jim Kharouf’s story about former ISE founder and CEO Gary Katz, “Cannot be done”: ISE’s Gary Katz Tells The Inside Story Of The Biggest Disruptor To The Options Industry Standard. After ISE was sold to Nasdaq, Jim interviewed one of the true innovators of the financial markets. It would have been even more popular if we had shot it as a video, as we all know how popular katz videos are on the Internet.
The third most popular story was a video interview Jim Kharouf conducted down in Boca Raton at the FIA’s International Conference as part of our 2016 Exchange CEO Series. This interview was with Jeff Sprecher talking about data, clearing and growth for ICE. Jeff Sprecher is always a big draw.
The fourth most popular story of 2016 was one of the first written during the year, as I examined the statistics from the NFA about the number of new introducing brokers created in 2015, which hit a historic low. The story was titled “Getting Squeezed: Introducing Brokers Numbers Waning, Growth Wanting, Future Questioned; New Introducing Broker numbers hit historical low; IB Numbers Shrink 17 percent Since Financial Crisis.”
Coming in at number five was a commentary by Dr. Holly Bell posted to JohnLothianNews.com, Disruption is Not Innovation, looking at the IEX impact on the markets.
The first part of our 2016 Exchange CEO Series interview with former CME Group CEO Phupinder Gill was the sixth most popular story. Gill talked about “Looking For Customer Efficiencies.”
Another video interview came in seventh as the OCC’s Craig Donohue showed up in our most popular stories with “Make A Plan: How OCC Is Forging Change In The Options Industry.”
Jim Kharouf’s “Shipbuilding: RJ O’Brien Building Business in Tough Times” was the eighth most popular story on JohnLothianNews.com in 2016.
Jeff Bergstrom’s commentary on “What is Blockchain?” was the ninth most popular story of 2016.
Finally, another blockchain story, this one by Jim Kharouf, came in at number ten. His “ASX Gets Technical: ASX deputy CEO Peter Hiom Talks About New Trading Platform And Pioneering Into Blockchain” rounded out our top ten most popular stories clicked on during 2016 on johnlothiannews.com.
John Lothian Newsletter
Today's Newsletter

CME Group to Launch a Global Emissions Offset (GEO) Futures Contract on March 1
First Read $27,051/$300,000 (9.0%) Jeremy Grant ++++ Hits & Takes John Lothian & JLN Staff Janet Yellen was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as U.S. Treasury Secretary, the first woman to hold the position first occupied by Alexander Hamilton. The vote was 85-14...
We visit more than 100 websites daily for financial news (Would YOU do that?)
Now Read This
Yellen Looks Likely To Stick With Treasury Department Policy Regarding Bitcoin
President-elect Joe Biden’s Treasury Secretary nominee, Janet Yellen, upset the cryptoverse yesterday with her response to a senator’s question about terrorism during her Senate Finance Committee confirmation hearing. With regard to terrorist financing, she said,...
NFA Bars Futures Broker Gary Fullett from Membership for Five Years; Surprising it Took This Long
The National Futures Association has barred broker Gary Fullett from being an NFA member for five years and fined him $50,000 if he ever wants to come back, among other actions.
The CryptoMarketsWiki Podcast Episode 16: A Year of Highs and Lows
In this episode of the CryptoMarketsWiki Podcast, Matt Raebel and Thom Thompson discuss their picks for the biggest cryptocurrency and blockchain stories of 2020.
The Hemp Industry Has Room To Grow
As the third nationally legal industrial hemp crop hits the market, it is clear that American producers, consumers, merchants and processors are engaged, at an early stage, in a grand and exciting economic experiment to leverage an ages-old commodity into effective, reliable products for technologically advanced markets.