This page is comprised of an archive of public commentaries written by Janet Tavakoli from 2003-2014. Some commentaries have been incorporated into, or appended to, updates. Finance articles that have been particularly popular are listed on a separate page by topic; see finance articles to browse by topic. See also the Blog for more recent publicly available commentary.
Recent client work is not posted on this site.
See also the press section for articles in which Janet Tavakoli has been interviewed and quoted, or view video interviews.
Bailout Economics 2014: Predators Prosper, Prey Perishes
The Financial Report – June 15, 2014
China and Russia to Form Joint Credit Rating Agency
The Financial Report – June 10, 2014
Electronic currency isn’t free from crime
The Financial Times – May 30, 2014
China’s New Silk Road and USD Reserve Currency Status
The Financial Report – May 5, 2014
Financial Leadership: Dividing Our Supporters, Uniting Our Critics
The Financial Report – April 12, 2014
Apply Peterffy solution to HFT spoofers
The Financial Times – April 12, 2014
Comment Letter to the SEC Re: File no. S7-11-13
Tavakoli Structured Finance – February 24, 2014
Bloomberg’s Glitch Highlights Larger Issues
The Financial Report – February 4, 2014
Did Banks Dump Structured Financial Products in Your Pension Fund?
The Financial Report – January 22, 2014
Hidden Bank Risks Drive Investors to Productive Assets, U.S. Treasuries, and Gold
The Financial Report – December 16, 2013
Alan Greenspan Played Daily Show’s Jon Stewart
The Financial Report – October 28, 2013
Prince Harry Responds to Goldman Sachs
The Financial Report – October 20, 2013
Currency Manipulation and Derivatives
The Financial Report – October 15, 2013
President Obama Might Ask Who Benefits from U.S. Debt Default
The Financial Report – October 9, 2013
Structured Finance: Sovereign Debt, Banks, and Gold (Part 3 of 4)
The Financial Report – October 8, 2013
Pope Francis, Glenn Greenwald, and Tavakoli Respond to Media
The Financial Report – October 5, 2013
Congressman Cummings, “AIG Can Crush You Like a Bug”
Huffington Post – September 25, 2013
A Risk Manager’s Impossibility?
Risk News and Resources – September 24, 2013
Should We Help End Cuba’s “Special Period?”
The Financial Report – September 12, 2013
Why POTUS Allowed Bailouts Without Indictments
The Financial Report – September 10, 2013
Who Says Gold is Money? (Part Two of Four)
The Financial Report – August 30, 2013
Financial Reform: The Silent Guns of August
The Financial Report – August 23, 2013
Structured Finance: Price Manipulation Includes Silver and Gold (Part One of Four)
The Financial Report – August 17, 2013
Unindicted Bankers, Eurozone Squeeze
The Financial Report – August 11, 2013
Bernanke’s Deposition: AIG, Goldman, Merrill and Bailouts
The Financial Report – August 7, 2013
Investors in Stevie Cohen’s SAC May Face Clawbacks
The Financial Report – July 24, 2013
Aces and Eights for Stevie Cohen?
The Financial Report – July 24, 2013
Comments on President Obama’s Speech
Huffington Post – July 24, 2013
Goldman Sachs, AIG and IKB: Fallout From Credit Derivatives and CDOs
The Financial Report – July 10, 2013
Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen Are the Google: Julian Assange Warns Resistance is Futile
Huffington Post – June 4, 2013 (Satire)
Leveraged Buyouts
The Financial Report – July 2, 2013
The Psychology of Loss Aversion
The Financial Report – July 2, 2013
Tel Aviv versus Davos
Huffington Post – June 5, 2013
Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen Are the Google: Julian Assange Warns Resistance is Futile
Huffington Post – June 4, 2013 (Satire)
Growth versus Viral: Google+ and Facebook
Huffington Post – May 29, 2013
Facebook Advertisers Beware
Huffington Post – January 16, 2013
Bill Ackman is Right about Herbalife: It’s Ripe for Investigation
Huffington Post – December 23, 2012
Facebook’s Fake Numbers: “One Billion Users” May Be Less Than 500 Million
TSF – December 11, 2012
Facebook: SEC Should Investigate the Pump and Dump (scroll to end of previous article)
TSF – November 30, 2012
Facebook: Soaring Fraud and Decelerating User Growth
TSF – November 26, 2012
Vatican City: True Financial Crime and Murder
Huffington Post – November 10, 2012
Facebook’s New Strong Sell Signals
Huffington Post – October 31, 2012
Facebook’s Plummeting Stock Price
TSF – October 16, 2012
BP Oil Spill Fine Upset: Likely to Soar Tens of Billions
Huffington Post – October 11, 2012
BP: Still Leaking
TSF – October 9, 2012
Déjà vu: When Money Dies
Huffington Post – October 4, 2012
Steve Cohen’s Press Release on SAC’s Alleged Insider Trading: I’m a Genius! (Satire)
Huffington Post – October 2, 2012
China and Japan (and U.S.) Island Dispute: It’s All About Oil
Huffington Post – September 25, 2012
How to Get an Angel Investor
Huffington Post – September 24, 2012
Is Nokia’s Management Insane?
Huffington Post – September 6, 2012
Prince Harry Offered Partner Position at Goldman Sachs (Satire)
TSF – August 29, 2012 – Updated 2014
Crime and Mayhem in the USA
Huffington Post – August 1, 2012
Facebook: Is Stock Research Rigged?
TSF – July 26, 2012
Wall Street’s Ongoing Great Bailout
TSF – July 24, 2012
JPMorgan Raises Fraud Questions: Rising Trading Losses Top $5.8 Billion
Huffington Post – July 16, 2012
Third World America 2012: A Country At War With Itself
Huffington Post – July 6, 2012
Financial Journalism: “Sometimes Being Responsible Means Pissing People Off”
TSF – July 3, 2012
Jamie Dimon: JPMorgan’s Chief is the World’s Funniest Financier
Huffington Post – May 15, 2012 (Updated May 19, 2012)
Jamie Dimon’s SNAFU: JPMorgan’s Other Derivatives’ Losses
Huffington Post – May 12, 2012
Warren Buffett Calls for 90% Billionaire Wealth Tax (Satire)
TSF – May 7, 2012
MF Global Implosion: Congressman Grimm Sends a Message
Huffington Post – May 3, 2012
Renewed Hope that Jon Corzine Will Face Criminal Charges
Huffington Post – May 1, 2012
MF Global: JP Morgan Produces Smoking Gun
Huffington Post – April 3, 2012
The JOBS Act Is So Criminogenic That It Guarantees Full-Time Jobs for Criminologists
by William K. Black – March 20, 2012 (JT Note: I am among the co-signers)
What Do Customers Really Think About Goldman Sachs?
Huffington Post – March 19, 2012
Greece and Credit Default Swaps: Bucking the ISDA Cartel
TSF – March 3, 2012
MF Global: Crime, Comedy and the Cover-Up
Huffington Post – February 28, 2012
Even In a Palace a Right Life Is Possible
Huffington Post – February 12, 2012
Gold and Silver Price Manipulation
TSF – January 25, 2012 – Updated 2014
Price Manipulation: Look for Motive
TSF – January 19, 2012 – Updated 2014
China 2012: The Year of the Bull (Rogers) or the Year of the Bear (Chanos)?
TSF – January 9, 2012
2011: The Year 60 Minutes Misled Americans About Municipal Bonds
Huffington Post – December 30, 2011
Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur Confronts MF Global and Wall Street
Huffington Post – December 26, 2011
Rehypothecation Is An Old Story: MF Global’s Story Is a Different Story of Filched Funds
Huffington Post – December 16, 2011
Wealthy Patriots Wage Class War
Huffington Post – December 12, 2011
Jon Corzine Dodges the Fraud Question
Huffington Post – December 9, 2011
Chanos Crash: Timing China’s Financial Meltdown
TSF – December 6, 2011
Paulson’s Actions Raise Serious Ethical Questions
Huffington Post – December 6, 2011
Is Crony Capitalism Wrong?
Huffington Post – December 3, 2011
MF Global Revelations Keep Getting Worse
TSF – November 21, 2011
Credit Derivatives and Leverage Sank Jon Corzine’s MF Global
TSF – November 4, 2011
Clear and Present Danger
TSF – October 31, 2011
“Standard” Credit Default Swaps on Greece Are a Sham and It’s Not a Surprise
TSF- October 27, 2011
“Fraud As a Business Model”
Huffington Post – September 6, 2011
Investing: Bad News, Good News, and What’s Next
Huffington Post – August 21, 2011
USA is “AAA” in Label Only
Huffington Post – July 29, 2011
Tavakoli Structured Finance Revokes the Credit Rating Agencies’ NRSRO Designation
TSF – July 26, 2011
Mark Zuckerberg’s Value Problem: “My” Facebook Profile Was a Fraud, So Was “Warren Buffett’s”
TSF – July 14, 2011
Why Some Housing Prices Are Still Falling and Subprime Loans Are Still Sliding
Huffington Post – June 27, 2011
The Middle Class is Drowning in Debt and Choking on Lies
Huffington Post – June 24, 2011
Third World America 2011: “Fast Tracking to Anarchy”
Huffington Post – June 8, 2011
Euro Endgame
TSF – June 1, 2011
Wall Street’s Advice to the IMF: Control Your Alleged Rapists! (Satire)
Huffington Post – May 22, 2011
Warren Buffett and the Boys of Wall Street
Huffington Post – May 9, 2011
Today’s Silver Scandal
TSF – May 5, 2011
Buffettgate: An Unenforced Policy Isn’t a Policy
Huffington Post – April 6, 2011
The Biggest Headache for Investors in Groupon and Facebook
TSF – March 3, 2011
Gold Game Changer: J.P. Morgan Accepts Gold as Money
TSF – February 7, 2011
Blame the Victims and Enrich the Perpetrators
Huffington Post – January 13, 2011
Tavakoli’s Top Ten Business Books of 2010 (Satire)
Huffington Post – Dec 13, 2010
Repairing the Damage of “Fraud as a Business Model
Presentation to the FHFA Supervision Summit in Washington D.C. – Dec. 8, 2010
In Third World America, You Can’t Buy a Ream of Paper on Minimum Wage
Huffington Post – Dec 18, 2010
Goldman Sachs Sued by German Bank Over Alleged Securities Fraud
TSF – October 5, 2010
Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger: Winning the Class War
Huffington Post – September 21, 2010
Goldman Sachs: Bullies on the Block
Huffington Post – September 13, 2010
Third World America: “Fast-Tracking to Anarchy”
Huffington Post – August 25, 2010
Goldman’s CEO to Treasury Secretary: OK, Now What? (Humor)
TSF (and Huffington Post)- August 23, 2010
How to Thwart the Assassins of the American Dream
Huffington Post – August 15, 2010
JPMorgan’s Losses from Indecent Overexposure
TSF – August 9, 2010
Stranguflation: Deflation and Inflation Where It Hurts America Most
TSF (also at Huffington Post) – August 3, 2010
IKB’s CEO Found Guilty, Some U.S. Bank CEO’s Should Also Face Charges
Huffington Post – July 16, 2010 – Updated 2014
2012: Voters Nix Incumbents, Demand Financial Reform and Fed Fraud Audit
Huffington Post – July 1, 2010
Wall Street’s Advice to Joran van der Sloot (Satire)
Huffington Post – June 8, 2010
“Banging” the U.S. Stock Market
TSF (at Huffington Post)- May 10, 2010
Confidence Game: Bill Ackman Shorts MBIA
TSF – May 4, 2010
President Obama: Bring Back William Black
TSF (at Huffington Post) – April 25, 2010
Rick Ungar Gives Barry Ritholtz a Lesson in the Law
The Financial Report – refrers to April 24, 2010 – posted April 24, 2014
ProPublica’s (and NYTimes’) “Untold” Magnetar Story Creates Excuses for Wall Street and Washington
TSF (at Huffington Post) – April 19, 2010
Congress’s FCIC Nearly Nailed Former Citigroup Executives to the Wall–Then Blew It
Huffington Post – April 8, 2010
Goldman Sachs: Spinning Gold
TSF – April 7, 2010
How to Corner the Gold Market
TSF – March 30, 2010
AIG Continued to Write Protection After 2005 (Lewis and TIME are Incorrect)
TSF – March 20, 2010
Michael Lewis: Wall Street’s Smart Aleck Apologist
TSF – March 15, 2010
Credit Derivatives on the United States: Games and Gold
TSF – March 12, 2010
Washington Must Ban U.S. Credit Derivatives as Traders Demand Gold (Parts 1)
TSF – March 8, 2010
CNBC Protects Bad Guys Who Took Huge Bailouts from Taxpayers
Huffington Post – March 4, 2010
Wall Street and Washington Hope You Are Gullible: Disappoint Them
TSF (also at Huffington Post) – February 14, 2010
Congress Exposes Potential Profiteering in AIG’s Deals: Delay Enabled Cover-Up
TSF (also at Huffington Post) – January 28, 2010
Show Bernanke and Geithner the Door
TSF (also at Huffington Post) – January 22, 2010
Bank of America’s Shareholders Should Reject Bonus Plans
TSF (also at Huffington Post) – January 12, 2010
Timothy Geithner, I Call Your Bluff
TSF – January 7, 2010
Washington’s Bipartisan Betrayal: The 2015 Global Financial Crisis
TSF (also at Huffington Post) – December 31, 2009
Responding to Goldman Sachs
TSF (also at Huffington Post) – December 25, 2009
Treasury Covered-Up and Bailed Out Goldman Sachs
TSF (also at Huffington Post) – December 22, 2009
Inside the Wall Street Journal’s Future of Finance Initiative
TSF – December 14, 2009
Beware of Geeks Bearing Grifts (Excerpt from Chapter 6 of Dear Mr. Buffett)
Risk Professional – by Janet Tavakoli – December 2009
Goldman, Guns, and Bloomberg
TSF – December 2, 2009
Warren Buffett, Stop Using My Credit Card!
TSF – November 23, 2009
I Retract My Apology and Call for More Regulation of Goldman Sachs
TSF – November 22, 2009 (and related commentaries)
Goldman’s Undisclosed Role in AIG’s Distress
TSF – November 10, 2009
Goldman Sachs Reasonable Doubt
TSF – November 2, 2009
Goldman’s Lies of Omission
TSF – October 28, 2009
Warren Buffett’s Wall Street War
TSF – October 20, 2009
China Defaults, Currency Basket Threatens Dollar
TSF – October 6, 2009
Wall Street’s Fraud and Solutions for Systemic Peril
Presentation to the International Monetary Fund – September 29, 2009
AIG Bubble: Irrational Exuberance
TSF – August 28, 2009
Where Were The Drama Pundits [Whitney, Taleb and Gasparino] When It Mattered?
TSF – July 29, 2009
Gasparino’s Glass Jaw is CNBC’s Draw
TSF – July 22, 2009 – Updated January 2014
The Cure For Prostate Cancer: Invest Now
TSF – July 21, 2009
What Wall Street Owes You (Commentary)
CNN (exclusive to CNN) – July 15, 2009
Anchored Under Water
TSF – June 26, 2009
Taleb’s Stranded Swan?
TSF- June 3, 2009
Taleb Kills $20 Billion Mythical Swan
TSF – June 1, 2009
President Obama’s Right to Free Speech
TSF – May 10, 2009
Ponzi Schemes and Stress Tests
TSF – May 8, 2009
Obama’s Adviser is Wrong: Malfeasance (Not Models) Killed Wall Street
TSF – February 24, 2009 – Updated 2014
Investment Funds: Should You Hear Alarm Bells?
TSF – February 9, 2009
Merrill’s Murder/Suicide
TSF – February 7, 2009
The China Syndrome: It’s Our Fault They Don’t Trust Us
Financial Times – February 5, 2009
BofA Says Merrill’s Huge Hit was in December (Not November)?
TSF – January 26, 2009 – Updated 2014
Premise of Fortune Cover Story is Incorrect
TSF – January 11, 2009
Alternative to Treasury Bailouts: One that Does Not Violate the Spirit of Democracy
TSF – September 25, 2008 and Financial Times Oct 2008. Updated 2014
Madoff Deserves Lots of Company
TSF – December 13, 2008
Dead Calm: No One Trusts You (Merrill Lynch’s Phony CDOs)
TSF- July 30, 2008
Ambac and MBIA Underwriting Standards
TSF – February 18, 2008
Cynical Use of Derivatives Has Left Market in a Pickle
Financial Times – Letter from Janet Tavakoli – January 31, 2008
Dicey Deals Done Dirt Cheap: Monolines in Dire Straits
TSF – January 3, 2008
CDO Cliffhanger (Clients Only)
TSF – November 27, 2007
Are You Sure You Made A Fortune Shorting the ABX (or TABX)?
LIPPER HedgeWorld – by Janet Tavakoli – December 5, 2007
Accounting Can Be Beautiful and Is Merrill’s (Earnings Charge) Number Up? (Clients Only)
TSF – November 27, 2007
Barclays, Swiss Re and More on the Credit Crunch – Update (Clients Only)
TSF – November 19, 2007
Derivatives Update (Clients Only)
TSF – November 17, 2007
AIG Catches Up (Clients Only)
TSF – November 7, 2007
Too Big to Regulate? (Clients Only)
TSF – November 5, 2007
Mal de MER – Fourth Quarter (Clients Only)
TSF – October 25, 2007
Subprime’s Unreported Undertow (Clients Only)
TSF – October 22, 2007
Merrill’s Mal de MER (Full Report for Clients Only)
TSF – October 8, 2007- by Janet Tavakoli
Misfortune’s Formula: Structured Credit Ratings
HedgeWorld (Reuters) – by Janet Tavakoli – September 19, 2007 – Updated 2011
Bear Bailout Bad Idea for Hedge Funds
HedgeWorld Commentary – by Janet Tavakoli – June 28, 2007
Greater Global Risk Now Than At Time of LTCM
Financial Times – May 7, 2007 – [Letter to Editor] by Janet Tavakoli
Subprime Mortgages: The Predators’ Fall
Risk Professional (formerly GARP Risk Review) Issue 35 March/April 2007 – by Janet Tavakoli
Do Not Accept Bolton’s Interpretation on Links with Iran
Financial Times – April 11, 2007 – [Letter to Editor] by Janet Tavakoli
Subprime Damaged US’s Standing as Global Leader in Finance
Financial Times [Letter to the Editor] – March 19, 2007 – by Janet Tavakoli
TSF Comments on SEC Proposed Rules on Rating Agencies
TSF – February 13, 2007 – by Janet Tavakoli
Crisis in Credit Derivatives is Averted – Updated February 7, 2007 – Updated 2014
LIPPER HedgeWorld.com [Reuters] May 2006 Updated Feb. 7, 2007 – by Janet Tavakoli
Oil Pressure: Fallout from the Iraq Study Group Report
LIPPER HedgeWorld – December 14, 2006 by Janet Tavakoli
The Golden Fleece Award for Optional Integrity
LIPPER HedgeWorld [Reuters] – October 2, 2006 [Commentary] by Janet Tavakoli
Dead Man’s Curve [Amaranth Advisors]
LIPPER HedgeWorld [Reuters] – September 22, 2006 [Commentary] by Janet Tavakoli
Oil and Power: Iran Approach Must Avoid Past Mistakes
LIPPER HedgeWorld [Reuters] – by Janet Tavakoli – June 14, 2006
Mon Ami ISDA: Crisis in Credit Derivatives
LIPPER HedgeWorld [Reuters] – May 22, 2006
The Elusive Income of Synthetic CDOs
Journal of Structured Finance Winter 2006 Volume 11, Number 4 – by Janet Tavakoli
Commentary: My Favorite Hedge Fund: Part II
LIPPER HedgeWorld [Reuters] – October 24, 2005 – by Janet Tavakoli
CDOs: Caveat Emptor
GARP Risk Review – September/October 2005 Issue 26 – by Janet Tavakoli
Consider the Full Notional Amount of CDOs When Assessing the Risks and Rewards
Financial Times Letter to the Editor – August 19, 2005 – by Janet Tavakoli
How Investors Can Lower Risk When Choosing a Hedge Fund
Financial Times – June 8, 2005 – by Janet Tavakoli
My Favorite Hedge Fund
LIPPER HedgeWorld – May 26, 2005 – by Janet Tavakoli
CDOs Can Confuse Bank Managers
Financial Times – April 26, 2005 by Janet Tavakoli
Tavakoli’s Speech to the IMF on Global Systemic Risks
TSF – April 26, 2005
How Will Bond Market React to Citigroup Trades?
Financial Times – February 7, 2005 by Janet Tavakoli & FT follow-up on costs February 12, 2005
Structured Finance: Rating the Rating Agencies
GARP Risk Review Issue 22 January/February 2005 – by Janet Tavakoli
STRUCTURED CREDIT: The Trials of Tranching
International Financing Review – IFR Magazine – October 25, 2004
Invisible Hedge Funds (Banks’ Trading Desks)
GARP Risk Review July/August 2004 Issue 19 – by Janet Tavakoli
Martha Stewart: The Irony Maiden Hates to Lose
The Yearbook – July 14, 2004 – by Janet Tavakoli
Ultimate Leverage: Collateralized Fund Obligations
HedgeWorld’s Accredited Investor June 2004 – by Janet Tavakoli
FASB in Error on Options Valuation
Financial Times – April 5, 2004 – [Letter from Janet Tavakoli]
Investors Are the Gullible Ones if They Rely on Ratings as Indicators of Financial Robustness
Financial Times – December 29, 2003 – by Janet Tavakoli
CDO Evolution Creates New World of Risk
Risk Professional (formerly GRR) November/December 2003 Issue 15
Buyer Beware
International Financing Review (IFR Magazine) Derivatives 2003, Issue 1507 – Oct. 25, 2003
by Janet Tavakoli
Landesbanken: even lower rating may be in order
Financial Times – December 1, 2003 Leaders & Letters – by Janet Tavakoli
Enron, J.P.Morgan and Offshore Special Purpose Vehicles
TSF – April 10, 2003
Structured Finance Definitions and Concepts