11 Most Read Articles of the Week!

1. The Two Pins That Will Pop The Stock Market Bubble

Bubbles can exist even at times when valuations and fundamentals might argue otherwise. Let me show you an elementary example of what I mean. The chart below is the long-term valuation of the S&P 500 going back to 1871. — Lance Roberts

2. Is a Market Correction Coming?

Most investors believe that the reflation trade will define markets in 2021. This means that cyclical sectors should outperform defensive ones, international stocks should outperform their U.S. counterparts, long-term interest rates should rise, and the U.S. dollar should fall. However, more and more clients are asking us what could undermine this narrative and precipitate a market correction. — David Lebovitz

3. There's Never Been a Better Time to Be an Investor

Access to information is important, but investors are benefiting on other fronts, including access to professional advice and fee compression on that advice. Derek Bruton, the CEO of Kingswood US, highlights some of the perks for investors that come with declining costs. — Todd Shriber

4. Is Your Advisory Picture-Perfect?

Why bother writing a business plan? That’s what an adviser asked me recently. A good adviser, with a really good business. He told me he’d never done one – ever. It’s a good question. As I explained to him, if you’re happy and fulfilled then carry on. Why change a winning formula? That’s one option. However, I think there are plenty of reasons to consider bothering with the time, effort and brain-ache that creating a good quality business plan will involve. — Brett Davidson

5. Why Women Use Financial Advisors More Than Men

The financial services industry has long been male dominated.  In fact, in 2018 the CFP Board reported that 76.83% of Certified Financial Planner professionals were men and only 23.16% were women.  In this male dominated field, do women feel comfortable working with a financial advisor?  According to recent research from Spectrem Group 61% of women use a financial advisor, while only 56% of men use an advisor. — Catherine McBreen

6. How Has the GameStop Hedge Fund Short Played into Liquid Alternatives?

By now, most people paying attention to market news have learned about the power of a short squeeze.  Unlike being long an equity with a limited downside of -100%, the theoretical unlimited upside to prices means that being short has no limit to how much can be lost. As a price rises, a short seller is forced to buy into the rise either by a margin requirement or because they hit their threshold of how much they are willing to lose, and that added buying pressure exacerbates the rise in prices. Take an equity which has a finite number of shares outstanding, with a large percentage of its total market cap sold short and, like the case of GameStop (GME), the domino effect can be tremendous. — Dan Peterson

7. The Myth Of Independent Advice

The search for “independent” advice is rather like the Quest for the Holy Grail.  It doesn’t exist.  The search is fruitless and doomed because there is no Holy Grail. Independent advice simply does not exist. — Tony Vidler

8. Can I Turn Bitcoin Into Cash?

The Bitcoin industry has progressed to the point that there are several legitimate ways of converting Bitcoin into your local currency. In this article, we will discuss some popular methods that might suit your personal preferences, based on the type of service (fast or cheap), payment method (bank account, PayPal, etc.), and currency you prefer. — James Page

9. How to Succeed at Giving Financial Advice

So, you want to be in the business of giving financial advice. That’s understandable because not only can the career of a financial advisor be financially rewarding, it can also be very fulfilling. Through a relationship that can span a lifetime, you become the essential source of advice in one of the most important aspects of your clients’ lives. There’s just one problem. You don’t have any clients—yet. — Don Connelly

10. Will the “Go Crazy” Economy Drive The Bear Out Of Hibernation?

The economy will “go crazy” this summer.” There is not a day that goes by in which we do not hear an economic forecast with an extreme optimism based on pent-up demand. — Michael Lebowitz 

11. Are You Spending Enough Time Helping Your Clients Become Passive Investors?

There is no doubt we spend too much of our attention on passive investing and not enough time helping our clients become passive investors. The active investor is one that has an itchy finger, likes to trade and reacts to events. The passive investor is one who is confident, has a strategy, and couldn’t care less about the news story of the day or how the market performs over a short period of time. — Jay Mooreland