The short version

Thursday was a down day for stock funds and a quiet one for everything else. The C, S and I Funds all dropped more than 1%, the F Fund gained 0.43%, and the G Fund did what it always does, inching up 0.01%.

TSP stock funds

C Fund (-1.22%, $108.8571). The C Fund follows the S&P 500, so its decline matches the index closely. The S&P 500 showed -1.23% in the data I have, a near-perfect fit. The five-day loss is 2.43%, and the year-to-date figure is -0.81%.

S Fund (-1.70%, $101.1558). This was the weakest of the individual funds. The S Fund tracks the Dow Jones U.S. Completion index, which covers mid-sized and smaller companies outside the S&P 500. Its five-day drop of 3.17% is the deepest on the board, and it sits at -0.5% for the year.

I Fund (-1.47%, $58.4906). The I Fund follows MSCI ACWI ex-US ex-China, so it moves with overseas stocks. It fell 1.47% on the day and 1.69% over five days. It is still up 4.39% for the year, the best year-to-date number among the core funds.

TSP bond and government funds

F Fund (+0.43%, $20.9860). The F Fund follows the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate bond index. Bonds rose as yields fell. The 10-year Treasury yield slipped 1.52% to 4.21%, roughly 6 basis points, and bond prices move the opposite way from yields.

G Fund (+0.01%, $19.6710). The G Fund earns a Treasury-based rate and carries no price risk, so it barely moved.

L Funds

The L Funds blend the individual funds above, so their results follow how much stock each one holds. Funds with more stock fell more:

  • L 2030: -0.75%
  • L 2035: -0.87%
  • L 2040: -0.95%
  • L 2045: -1.02%
  • L 2050: -1.09%
  • L 2055 through L 2075: -1.36% each
  • L Income: -0.35%

Every L Fund is still positive for the year, from +0.6% for L Income to +1.03% for the 2055 and later funds.

Moves over 1%

Three core funds fell more than 1%: the S Fund at -1.70%, the I Fund at -1.47%, and the C Fund at -1.22%. Among the L Funds, L 2045, L 2050 and the 2055 to 2075 group crossed that line too. Nothing on the bond side came close to a 1% move.

What drove the IRA index funds and ETFs

The index and ETF figures I have are labeled as the prior session close, so treat them as a companion picture rather than an exact match to the TSP close. They tell the same story.

  • S&P 500: 6798.4, -1.23%
  • Dow Jones Industrial Average: 48908.719, -1.20%
  • Nasdaq Composite: 22540.59, -1.59%
  • Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI): $333.90, -1.29%
  • Vanguard Total International Stock ETF (VXUS): $79.29, -1.20%
  • Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF (BND): $74.22, +0.43%

The Nasdaq fell the most of the three major indexes. VTI, which holds nearly the whole U.S. market, landed between the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq. VXUS lost 1.20%, a bit less than the I Fund's 1.47%, though the two hold somewhat different slices of the overseas market.

BND rose 0.43%, the same as the F Fund, which makes sense because both hold broad U.S. investment-grade bonds. The falling 10-year yield is the link.

What it means for your plan

One day like this is a small blip in a plan built over decades. A 1% to 1.7% drop in stock funds is ordinary, and the bond funds did their usual job of cushioning part of it.

The five-day numbers are more useful context. The C Fund is down 2.43% and the S Fund is down 3.17% over that stretch, while the I Fund remains well ahead for the year. If your allocation matches your timeline and your comfort with swings, a day like this calls for no action. If a drop of this size made you uneasy, that is worth noting for your next scheduled review, not for a decision made on a Thursday.

This recap is general information, not personal advice.