The Woodward Financial Advisors Blog

Flashback to April 2, 2025, the global markets are reacting to the Liberation Day tariffs and are at the start of, what we now know was, a drop of $10 TRILLION in global market value ... Due to the magnitude of the market changes, your team at Woodward Financial Advisors assembled quickly and decided it was time to review all client portfolios for trading and rebalancing opportunities. So, I ask a simple question that I encourage you to briefly consider before reading on; did WFA engage in marketing timing?

As interest in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies continues to grow, some Woodward Financial Advisors clients are curious whether their portfolios include investments in these loosely regulated holdings. While it's important to understand the basics of cryptocurrency and the underlying blockchain technology, we want to clarify that our investment approach does not include direct exposure to cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin ...

I don’t know about you, but I’ve never heard someone at a cocktail party brag about the steady, consistent returns they’ve enjoyed from their well-diversified mutual fund investments. We are also acutely aware that our diversified investing strategy isn’t always “sexy,” but as financial advisors, we believe in the power of the long-term growth of the market, despite the inevitable downturns along the way ...

Even a financial planner with 20+ years in the business blinks when the stock markets experience a correction. We would like nothing better than to always have smooth, upward-trending returns, but that is not the nature of markets and long-term equity returns. To steal the title of the blog we are going to share with you, “This is Normal.” This blog gives us a little historical reminder that helps put the idea into context ...

My first job in financial planning started in 2000, at the end of the bull market of the 1990s and you guessed it after the dot com bubble burst! What followed that burst was about ten years of underperformance of the U.S. vs. International stock market. However, currently the US Stock Market (S&P 500) has been outperforming the Broad International Market (MSCI World ex USA) for thirteen years. These fluctuations are normal and historical data shows that different markets often take turns leading in performance.

There are many reasons to love spring - the temperatures are warming, the flowers are blooming, and the daylight is getting a bit longer each day. Oh yeah, and college basketball's March Madness is in full display (especially here in Woodward's home office on Tobacco Road where the Triangle area of North Carolina has three teams still competing in the Sweet 16)! Speaking of basketball, we think you'll enjoy this timely piece by the CEO of Dimensional Fund Advisors, David Booth, as he talks about what drives the stock market, using March Madness as the backdrop.