Market Commentary: Spring 2023 – March Madness

This past quarter provided a shock to our system with the first run on a major bank since the Great Recession in 2008-09. It reminded us of how tenuous (and yet, at the same time surprisingly robust) our banking system often is as well as how shocks to the financial markets can come, seemingly, out […]

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Market Commentary: Winter 2022 – Fear of Missing Out

Sometimes it can be difficult to remain a disciplined investor. Over periods of time, a diversified buy-hold-rebalance strategy can seem like it is not performing as well as it should, especially when we see some other “hot investment” making headlines. It can lead us to wonder if we may be missing out on some new […]

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Market Commentary: Fall 2022 – Bad Year for Bonds

Originally published in North Bay Business Journal For investors, it has been a trying year: Both stocks and bonds have been down at the same time, which is not common. It is quite rare for bonds to be down in any material way during periods of stock market decline. To put this into perspective, the […]

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Market Commentary: Summer 2022 – Thoughts on Diversification

Diversification. We use this word a lot when we describe how the best portfolios are constructed, and it’s one of the keys to a successful investment strategy. The main idea is that a properly diversified portfolio will mitigate losses because different investments react to the same event in different ways. Our portfolios are comprised of […]

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Safeguarding Your Wealth Portfolio

We are so proud that Willow Creek Wealth Advisor Rawson Gulick was included in North Bay Business Journal’s 26 views on how to safeguard your wealth portfolio amid coronavirus, economic turmoil. Thank you, North Bay Business Journal, for putting together this wonderful resource filled with great advice for navigating these chaotic times. Rawson Gulick, CFP® […]

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Continuity Planning for the Coronavirus Era

A crisis doesn’t always have negative connotations. It comes from the Greek word krisis, which means “decisive moment.” We are all painfully aware of the dark sides of the COVID-19 pandemic, but there have been positives for many of us too. The disruptive nature of the experience has caused us to reflect and reevaluate what […]

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Market Commentary: Summer 2020 – Volatile Stocks

VOLATILE STOCKS AND THEIR RECOVERY The past two quarters have been among the most volatile on record for stocks. The benchmark S&P 500 declined by 19.6% in the first quarter, and then, in a surprising turnaround, went up by 20.5% in the second quarter. We often suggest to clients that during times of market stress […]

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Market Commentary: Summer 2016 – Reasons to be Cheerful

10 REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL Do you ever listen to the news and find yourself thinking that the world has gone to the dogs? The roll call of depressing headlines seems endless. But look beyond what the media calls news, and there also are a lot of things going right. It’s true the world faces […]

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Market Commentary: Winter 2014 – Economy and Markets

2014 REVIEW: ECONOMY & MARKETS Despite a bumpy ride throughout 2014, the US economy gained pace while the US equity and fixed income markets outperformed most markets around the world. This performance came with higher market volatility in the US, a rallying dollar, slowing economies in Europe and Asia, and rising geopolitical tensions, including conflicts […]

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Hidden Rays of Hope in the Gloomy Summer of 2011

By any reasonable measure, the past three months have been among the most aggravating quarters on record for the investment markets. The debt ceiling debate, constant dithering in Europe over whether or not Eurozone members should be allowed to default on their sovereign debt, partisan bickering, the downgrade of U.S. government debt, continued unemployment, and […]

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