Friday's TSP close

Stocks had a rough Friday. Of the TSP's individual funds, only the G Fund finished higher, and that was by a single basis point (+0.01%). Everything else fell. Two funds dropped more than 1%.

The S Fund was the weakest at -1.62%, closing at $102.3503. The C Fund slipped 1.06% to $109.1659. Both still look fine over longer stretches. The S Fund is up 13.22% year to date, and the C Fund is up 17.73%.

Why the funds moved as they did

Each TSP fund follows a benchmark, so the pattern is easy to read.

The C Fund tracks the S&P 500, which fell 1.07%. The C Fund's 1.06% drop is almost a match, as it should be.

The S Fund follows the Dow Jones U.S. Completion index, which covers mid-sized and smaller companies outside the S&P 500. I don't have that index in today's data, so the fund's own move is the best clue: smaller and mid-sized stocks fell harder than the large-company benchmark. Note that the Dow Industrials (-0.51%) is a different, narrower index and isn't the S Fund's benchmark. Even so, the S Fund's 5-day return is still +0.36%.

The I Fund tracks international stocks outside the U.S. and China. It lost 0.58% on the day but is up 0.56% over five days and 30.07% for the year, the best YTD number among the individual funds.

The F Fund follows the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate bond index. It slid 0.28% to $20.7917. Bond prices fall when yields rise, and the 10-year Treasury yield did rise Friday.

The G Fund is pegged to a Treasury rate and doesn't swing with markets. That's why it ticked up 0.01% while everything else dropped.

The L Funds

The L Funds blend the other five funds, so their losses depend on how much stock each one holds. L 2030 fell 0.58% and L 2040 fell 0.71%. The longest-dated funds, L 2055 through L 2075, each lost 0.96%. L Income, which leans on G and F, lost just 0.27%. Over five days, every L Fund is within a few hundredths of a percent of flat.

What moved IRA index funds and ETFs

The index and ETF figures supplied are labeled as the prior session close, so treat them as a close companion to the TSP numbers rather than a perfect match. The picture agrees with the TSP funds.

The Nasdaq Composite had the biggest drop at -1.69%, to 23,195.17. The S&P 500 fell 1.07% to 6,827.41, and the Dow fell 0.51% to 48,458.05. When the Nasdaq falls much more than the Dow, the weakness is usually concentrated in growth-heavy names.

The Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) dropped 1.14% to $335.99. The Vanguard Total International Stock ETF (VXUS) lost 0.68% to $75.61. The Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF (BND) fell 0.31% to $74.03.

The 10-year Treasury yield rose 1.28% to 4.194%. That is a gain of roughly 5 basis points. Higher yields push existing bond prices down, which fits BND's slip. The data here doesn't say what drove the move, so I won't guess.

What it means for your plan

One day rarely matters for a long-term plan. A 1% drop in the C Fund is about $1.06 on every $100, and the five-day figures show how small a single session can look in a wider window.

If you hold a target-date or L Fund, the fund is built to take a day like this. Your mix of stocks, bonds and G Fund money is what drives results over decades, not any one Friday. Check your allocation on your normal schedule. This is general information and not advice for your own situation.