The short version

Friday was a down day for stocks and a quiet one for the safe corners of the TSP. The C Fund closed at $120.0585, off 1.01%. The G and F Funds each gained a hair. Nothing here changes the bigger picture, but the C Fund's drop crossed the 1% line, so it gets a closer look.

TSP funds: who fell and who rose

C Fund (-1.01%). This is the one notable move. The C Fund tracks the S&P 500, and the index also fell 1.01%. That is exactly what a tracking fund should do. Over five days the C Fund is down 1.55%, and it is still up 9.4% year to date.

I Fund (-0.83%). International stocks fell too, in line with VXUS, the broad international ETF, which dropped 0.82%. The five-day loss is 2.02%, the largest of any TSP fund, though the I Fund still shows 12.4% for the year.

S Fund (-0.52%). Small and mid-sized companies fell by about half as much as the large caps. The S Fund is down 1.27% over five days and leads the year-to-date table at 13.16%.

F Fund (+0.05%) and G Fund (+0.01%). The F Fund follows the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate bond index, and bonds were slightly firmer. The G Fund pays a Treasury-based rate, so it barely moves. Year to date, the F Fund is up 0.4% and the G Fund 2.37%.

L Funds: a blend, so a blended result

Each L Fund mixes the underlying funds above, so its day depends on how much stock it holds. The longest-dated funds, L 2055 through L 2075, fell 0.87%. L 2050 lost 0.71%, L 2040 lost 0.63%, and L 2030 lost 0.47%. L Income, the most conservative, slipped 0.23%.

The pattern is simple: more stock exposure meant a bigger drop on a down day for equities. The same ordering shows up over five days, from -0.41% for L Income to -1.66% for the long-dated funds.

What moved IRA holdings

The index figures I have are labeled as the prior session close, but the S&P 500 move matches the C Fund's, so the picture lines up.

The S&P 500 fell 1.01% to 7,457.69. The Nasdaq Composite fell more, 1.40% to 25,520.24, which is the other move over 1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average held up better at -0.77%, ending at 52,146.42.

For the funds many IRAs lean on, VTI (total U.S. stock market) fell 0.96% to $367.01, and VXUS (total international) fell 0.82% to $83.37. BND, the total bond market ETF, rose 0.07% to $72.86. The 10-year Treasury yield eased 0.61% to 4.541%, which is a drop of roughly 3 basis points. Falling yields tend to go along with firmer bond prices, and that fits BND's small gain. My data doesn't say what drove the stock selloff, so I won't guess.

What it means for your plan

One down day of about 1% in stocks is ordinary. It shows up in the numbers, but it rarely matters for a plan measured in decades. The mix of funds you hold decides how much of a day like this you feel, and the L Fund results above show that clearly.

Take a glance at your balance if you like, then get back to your Friday. Your contribution schedule and your long-term allocation matter far more than any single session. This recap is general information, not advice for your personal situation.