TommyIV's TSP Talk Blog

Stocks rallied to start the week coming off the indices closing at their lows the prior week. The action was choppy from there as a majority of the initial gains were lost Tuesday, Wednesday was choppy, and then some of the early gains were reclaimed to end the shortened week on Thursday. In all, stock indices ended the first quarter with some cushion after the troubling action last week. That cushion pushed the S-fund into positive territory for the first quarter while the C and I-funds remained in negative territory. It was the first time the S&P 500 was down for a quarter in the last 10 quarters.

The action this week tells us stocks are still struggling to find their footing and there is still a lot of uncertainty. This sort of action can be beneficial for day traders and stock pickers but nerve-wracking for those with longer-term investments.

Bonds also produced gains this week after trading relatively flat throughout March. The F-fund was up more than 0.5% for the week.




Here are the weekly, monthly, and annual TSP fund returns for the week ending March 30th:




The SPY (S&P 500 / C-fund) traded above its 200-day EMA after closing just above it the prior week. The index did not test any long term resistance this week but is sitting not far from the 20-day EMA price and another falling trend line. There is an open gap above but the index must make it throught the resistance first. The C-fund gained 2.05% for the week to bring the March losses down to 2.55%.




The Wilshire 4500 Completion Index (S-fund) found resistance in its 50-day EMA and a falling trend line but was still able to push back into positve territroy for March. The S-fund gained 1.38% for the week.




$IEE (EAFE Index / I-fund) traded above its 200-day EMA this week and filled the open gap from the previous week. The price is right between the 200-day and 20-day EMA. The I-fund outperformed the TSP funds this week with a gain of 2.36% but finished March with a loss of 0.76%.




AGG (Bonds / F-fund) made more aggressive moves to end the quarter after struggling for the year. The index closed above its 50-day EMA but still has to test its 200-day EMA above. AGG also moved out and above the trading channel its been within since late February. The F-fund gained 0.53% but lagged the TSP funds for the first quarter with a loss of 1.45% for the first three months of 2018.




Good luck and thanks for reading. We will be back here next week with another TSP Wrap Up. You can read our daily market commentary at the Market Comments page. If you need more help deciding what to do with your account, perhaps one of our Premium Services can help.


Thomas A Crowley
www.tsptalk.com
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The legal stuff: This information is for educational purposes only! This is not advice or a recommendation. We do not give investment advice. Do not act on this data. Do not buy, sell or trade the funds mentioned herein based on this information. We may trade these funds differently than discussed above. We use additional methods and strategies to determine fund positions.