The short version

Wednesday was a down day for nearly everything except the G Fund. Stock funds took the heaviest hit, bonds slipped a little, and the G Fund did what it always does and ticked up 0.01%.

TSP funds: who rose, who fell

The C Fund closed at $121.4401, down 0.73%. That lines up almost exactly with the S&P 500, which it follows. The 5-day gain is still 0.46%, and the fund is up 10.66% for the year.

The S Fund had the roughest day, falling 1.00% to $114.3062. It tracks the Dow Jones U.S. Completion index, which covers mid- and small-sized companies, so a deeper drop than the large-company C Fund is not unusual. It sits right at the 1% line without crossing it. Even after the drop, the S Fund gained 1.39% over five days and is up 12.43% this year.

The I Fund slid 0.37% to $64.7438. It follows MSCI ACWI ex-US ex-China, so it moves with overseas stocks rather than U.S. ones. It still leads the individual funds year to date at 15.55%, with a 0.76% gain over five days.

The F Fund lost 0.20% to $20.9351. It follows the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate bond index, and bond prices tend to fall when yields rise (more on that below). It's up just 0.36% for the year.

The G Fund rose 0.01% to $19.9472. It earns a Treasury-based rate and carries no price swings, so small steady gains are the norm. Year to date it's up 1.81%.

L Funds: a blend, so a blend of results

The L Funds mix the five core funds, so their results follow how much stock each one holds.

  • L Income is the most conservative and fell only 0.18%.
  • L 2030 dropped 0.36%, and L 2040 dropped 0.47%.
  • L 2050 fell 0.54%.
  • L 2055 through L 2075 all fell 0.64%, and all show the same 12.54% year-to-date gain.

The pattern is simple: more stock exposure meant a bigger drop on the day, and a bigger year-to-date gain.

Any move over 1%?

No TSP fund fell more than 1%. The S Fund landed at exactly -1.00%. The one move past that line in this data was the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which dropped 1.21%.

What moved the IRA staples

The index figures below are from the prior session close, so they may not match the TSP close date exactly. The direction was the same, though.

The S&P 500 fell 0.74% to 7,553.68. The Dow lost 1.21% to 50,687.07, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.89% to 26,853.98. The Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) slipped 0.72% to $371.65, close to the S&P's move because large companies dominate that fund.

The Vanguard Total International Stock ETF (VXUS) fell 0.99% to $86.10. That is a bigger drop than the I Fund's. VXUS holds emerging markets and China, which the I Fund's index leaves out, and the two may also reflect different sessions.

On the bond side, the Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF (BND) lost 0.19% to $73.06, nearly matching the F Fund. The 10-year Treasury yield rose 0.81% to 4.491. When yields climb, existing bonds lose some value, which fits the small bond declines.

What it means for your plan

A 0.7% dip in the C Fund is a modest move, and a 1% drop in the S Fund is well within the normal range for that fund. One day rarely matters for a plan built over decades. Year-to-date figures are still positive across the board, and even the 5-day numbers for the stock funds remain in the black.

If you're contributing every paycheck, you buy a little more per dollar on days like this and a little less on strong days. Check whether your mix still matches your timeline and risk comfort, and leave it alone if it does. This recap is general information, not advice for your situation.