TSP funds at the close

Thursday's official TSP close was a down day everywhere except the G Fund. The two that crossed the 1% line were the stock funds outside the S&P 500.

The S Fund fell 1.08% to $113.9685. It is down 1.39% over five days, the weakest five-day showing on the board, but it still sits up 12.1% for the year. The I Fund dropped 1.06% to $65.6251. Its five-day loss is only 0.2%, so most of the damage came in this one session. It remains the year-to-date leader at 17.13%.

The C Fund lost 0.57% to $122.4271, tracking the S&P 500. The five-day figure is -0.94%, and the year-to-date gain is 11.56%.

The F Fund slipped 0.65% to $20.6394. It follows the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate, and bond prices tend to fall when yields rise. Yields did rise, as covered below. It is down 1.06% for the year.

The G Fund was the lone gainer, up 0.01% to $20.2019. It earns a Treasury-based rate and holds no market price risk, so it just keeps accruing. Year to date it is up 3.11%.

L Funds

Every L Fund fell, and the size of the drop followed stock exposure. L Income, the most conservative, lost 0.25%. L 2030 fell 0.47%, L 2040 fell 0.62%, and L 2050 fell 0.70%. The long-dated funds (L 2055 through L 2075) all dropped 0.80%, with year-to-date gains of about 13.5%. That is what you would expect from a blend that leans harder on the C, S and I Funds the further out the target date.

What moved IRA index funds and ETFs

One note on timing: the index and ETF numbers below are from the prior session close, so they are not a perfect match to the TSP's Thursday figures. The direction is the same.

The S&P 500 fell 0.58% to 7,591.7. The Dow slid 0.60% to 52,064.102, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.65% to 26,081.721. Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) dropped 0.62% to $373.24, a close match for the broad indexes.

International stocks were weaker. Vanguard Total International Stock ETF (VXUS) fell 1.29% to $86.28, the biggest drop in this group, which lines up with the I Fund's 1% loss.

Bonds took a hit too. Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF (BND) lost 0.64% to $71.27. The 10-year Treasury yield rose 2.21% to 4.944%. That works out to roughly 11 basis points, a sizable one-day move for the benchmark rate. Higher yields push existing bond prices lower, which is why both BND and the F Fund fell.

Stocks and bonds fell together, so there was little cushion in a standard mix. Only the G Fund, and cash-like holdings in general, avoided the drop.

What it means for your plan

A 1% drop in a single stock fund is within the normal range of daily movement, even if it is unpleasant to see. If your plan is built around retirement years away, one session barely registers. The S and I Funds are still well ahead for the year, and a one-day move does not change that.

The more useful lesson is about how your mix behaves. Today's results show how different allocations take different amounts of damage: roughly 0.25% in L Income, 0.80% in the long-dated L Funds, and over 1% in the pure stock funds outside the S&P 500. If that spread feels too wide, that is something to weigh against your own timeline and comfort level, not something to act on after one morning's numbers.

This is a general recap, not personal advice. Check your allocation against your own goals on a schedule, not a headline.