TSP funds at the close

Stocks rose across the board in the official May 20 close. The G Fund barely moved, and every other fund finished higher.

The S Fund led at +2.26%, closing at $109.5769. The I Fund gained 1.35% to $62.4956, and the C Fund rose 1.08% to $119.4435. The F Fund added 0.55% to $20.7964. The G Fund was up 0.01% to $19.9126, which is what a Treasury-rate fund does on a normal day.

Three stock funds topped 1%, and that is the notable part of the day. The S Fund's 2.26% is the biggest single-day move on the board.

Why the funds tracked their benchmarks

The C Fund follows the S&P 500, which rose 1.08% to 7432.97. The two numbers match, as they should.

The S Fund follows the Dow Jones U.S. Completion index, which covers mid-size and smaller companies. I don't have that index's figure here, but a 2.26% gain says smaller and mid-size names outran the large caps. Note the five-day number, though: the S Fund is still down 0.08% over the week. Much of today's jump was a rebound.

The I Fund follows the MSCI ACWI ex-US ex-China index. Its 1.35% gain came after a 1.02% slide over five days, the weakest week of the stock funds. It is still up 11.54% for the year, the best YTD figure of the individual funds.

The F Fund tracks the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate bond index. Bonds rose 0.55%, in step with BND, as Treasury yields dropped.

L Funds

L Funds blend the individual funds, so the more stock a fund holds, the more it rose.

  • L 2055 through L 2075: +1.32% each, YTD 9.62%
  • L 2050: +1.12%
  • L 2045: +1.06%
  • L 2040: +0.99%
  • L 2035: +0.91%
  • L 2030: +0.77%
  • L Income: +0.40%

All of them are slightly negative over five days, from -0.08% for L Income to -0.42% for the longest-dated funds.

What moved IRA index funds and ETFs

The index figures below are labeled as the prior session close, but the S&P 500 move matches the C Fund exactly. Either way, the picture is the same.

The S&P 500 gained 1.08%. The Dow rose 1.31% to 50,009.352, and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.54% to 26,270.359. Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) rose 1.15% to $364.19.

International did better. Vanguard Total International Stock ETF (VXUS) rose 1.66% to $84.17. VXUS holds China and the I Fund does not, so the two will not match exactly.

Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF (BND) rose 0.55% to $72.85. The 10-year Treasury yield fell 2.04% to 4.572%, roughly nine basis points lower. Bond prices move opposite to yields, so falling yields explain the gains in both BND and the F Fund.

What it means for your plan

One good day is not a trend. The five-day figures are still mostly negative, so today recovered some ground but did not erase the week. A 2.26% gain in the S Fund can reverse just as quickly.

For long-term savers, the year-to-date numbers say more than any single session. Whether your money sits in a TSP fund, an L Fund or a broad index ETF in an IRA, a plan built over decades rarely turns on one day. This recap is general information, not personal advice, so check your own timeline and risk tolerance before making any changes.