TSP funds at the close

Stocks were lower in the Tuesday, Nov. 18 TSP close, and the I Fund took the biggest hit. It fell 1.22% to $52.5078, the only TSP core fund to drop more than 1% on the day. Even so, it is still up 25.22% for the year, far ahead of the rest.

The C Fund slipped 0.82% to $105.7055. That tracks the S&P 500, which is its benchmark, and the index figure below shows nearly the same decline. The C Fund is down 3.1% over five days but up 14.0% year to date.

The S Fund was the exception, gaining 0.14% to $95.9814. It follows the Dow Jones U.S. Completion index, which covers U.S. companies outside the S&P 500. That is a different slice of the market from the C Fund's, so the two can move apart on a given day. The five-day picture is less friendly: the S Fund is down 4.6%, the weakest stretch among the stock funds, and its year-to-date gain is 6.18%.

The bond-type funds barely moved. The F Fund, tied to the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate, rose 0.08% to $20.7882. The G Fund, which pays a Treasury-based rate and does not swing with markets, added 0.01% to $19.4921.

L Funds

The L Funds are blends of the five core funds, so their results depend on how much stock each one holds. The longer-dated funds lean harder on stocks and fell more: L 2055 through L 2070 each dropped 0.83%. L 2050 fell 0.67%, L 2040 fell 0.59%, and L 2030 fell 0.48%. L Income, which holds the most G and F, lost just 0.21%.

Five-day numbers follow the same order. The longest-dated funds are down about 3.0%, while L Income is down 0.77%.

What moved IRA index funds and ETFs

The index and ETF figures are labeled as the prior session close, so read them as a rough guide to the same broad move rather than an exact match with the TSP numbers.

  • S&P 500: down 0.83% to 6617.32.
  • Dow Jones Industrial Average: down 1.07% to 46,091.74.
  • Nasdaq Composite: down 1.21% to 22,432.85.
  • Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI): down 0.68% to $324.22.
  • Vanguard Total International Stock ETF (VXUS): down 0.88% to $73.35.
  • Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF (BND): up 0.08% to $74.26.
  • 10-Year Treasury yield: 4.123%, down 0.24%.

The Dow and the Nasdaq both fell more than 1%, so the losses were not confined to one corner. VTI held up a little better than the S&P 500, which is what you would expect from a fund that also owns smaller companies. VXUS fell less than the TSP's I Fund, but the two use different benchmarks and the I Fund excludes China, so they will not match exactly.

On the bond side, BND edged up as the 10-year yield eased. The F Fund's small gain fits that pattern.

What it means for your plan

One down day does not change a long-term plan. The C Fund's 0.82% decline, or even the I Fund's 1.22%, is small next to the year-to-date gains of 14.0% and 25.22%. Short stretches like the 3.1% five-day slide in the C Fund happen regularly in stock investing.

The day did show how the funds are built. Stock-heavy funds fell the most, the bond fund and the G Fund held steady, and the L Funds landed in between according to their stock share. If a pullback like this feels uncomfortable, that is useful information about your own comfort with risk. It is not a reason to react to a single session.

Check your allocation against your timeline and goals once in a while, not every morning. For questions specific to your situation, a qualified financial professional or your plan's resources can help.