Friday's close at a glance

Every TSP fund finished Friday, August 7, higher, and the stock funds did most of the work. The S Fund was the standout at +1.74%, the only TSP fund to move more than 1% on the day. Nothing fell.

The individual funds

S Fund: $119.3969, +1.74%. This fund tracks the Dow Jones U.S. Completion index, which covers mid-sized and smaller U.S. companies outside the S&P 500. It beat every other TSP fund on the day. It also leads the five-day (+4.75%) and year-to-date (+17.44%) columns.

C Fund: $124.9314, +0.62%. This one follows the S&P 500, and the index gain of 0.62% matches it. The C Fund is up 3.59% over five days and 13.84% for the year.

I Fund: $65.5282, +0.70%. It follows the MSCI ACWI ex-US ex-China index, so it holds international stocks outside the U.S. and China. It's up 2.37% over five days and 16.95% this year, ahead of the C Fund on a year-to-date basis.

F Fund: $20.8908, +0.20%. It tracks the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate bond index. Bond prices edged up as the 10-year Treasury yield slipped to 4.66%, down 0.21% on the day. Lower yields mean higher bond prices, so the small gain fits. The F Fund is up just 0.15% year to date.

G Fund: $20.1096, +0.01%. It earns the Treasury rate and doesn't swing with markets. Its year-to-date gain is 2.64%, which is ahead of the F Fund.

The L Funds

The L Funds blend the individual funds, so their day depended on how much stock each one holds.

  • L Income, the most conservative, gained 0.24%.
  • L 2030 rose 0.45%, L 2035 rose 0.54%, and L 2040 rose 0.59%.
  • L 2045 rose 0.63% and L 2050 rose 0.67%.
  • L 2055 through L 2075 all rose 0.79%, with the same 3.28% five-day gain and 15.35% year-to-date gain. They hold nearly identical mixes this far from retirement.

The pattern is steady. The more stock in the fund, the bigger Friday's gain.

What moved IRA index funds and ETFs

One note on timing: the index and ETF figures I have are labeled as the prior session's close, so they may not line up exactly with the TSP date. They tell a similar story anyway.

  • S&P 500: 7,757.64, +0.62%
  • Dow Jones Industrial Average: 54,036.93, +0.28%
  • Nasdaq Composite: 26,690.619, +1.30%
  • Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI): $381.78, +0.71%
  • Vanguard Total International Stock ETF (VXUS): $87.21, +1.03%
  • Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF (BND): $72.40, +0.21%

The Nasdaq's 1.30% gain was the largest among the major indexes, while the Dow, with its smaller group of big, established companies, lagged at 0.28%. VTI covers the whole U.S. market and landed close to the S&P 500. VXUS climbed just over 1%, a bit more than the TSP's I Fund, which makes sense because the two funds hold different slices of the international market. BND rose 0.21%, in line with the F Fund.

The data I have doesn't say why stocks rose, so I won't guess. What it does show is that the gains were broad, across large and small U.S. companies, international stocks and bonds.

What it means for your plan

A strong Friday feels good, but a single day rarely changes a long-term plan. A 1.74% jump in the S Fund can easily be followed by a down day, and the five-day and year-to-date numbers give a better sense of direction than any one session. If your TSP or IRA is set up to match your timeline and your comfort with ups and downs, a good Friday is not a reason to change it. The same goes for a bad one.

This recap is general information, not personal advice.