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Wednesday was yet another day that started out on the positive side and ended in the red. The bulls made another attempt to buy weakness yesterday, but the bears were ready with another wave of selling into the close. The Dow was fairly flat but the broader indices were down more sharply despite yields pulling back for a change. The dollar was also down and that helped the I-fund lead the TSP funds yesterday.

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The Dow posted a gain on Tuesday but for the broader indices the losing streak continued. Despite the losses, the Volatility Index (VIX) was down yesterday as stocks traded in a rather tight range all day, and some modest afternoon gains were wiped out after interest rate comment's from the Fed. Yields and the dollar were up again, and that's keeping the pressure on as stocks try to price in this latest push higher in yields.

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Stocks gapped up on Monday morning, and in a volatile market, Monday gaps are very vulnerable, and that proved to be the case as the Dow, up 400-points at its high yesterday, traded in a 730 range and closed 650-points off those morning highs. Israel fending off Iran's attack eased weekend nerves helping the market rally early, and strong retail sales was a good sign for the economy, but it also pushed the dollar and yields up to new highs for the year.

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Whether it was a culmination of less favorable inflationary data, earnings and nervous guidance from JPMorgan Chase's Jamie Dimon, or just the dip buyers giving up for a day and allowing a pullback to ensue, stocks relented to the bears on Friday and we had the worse day for the S&P 500 since January. The losses were broad and sharp despite some relief in the bond yields.

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April has not been the month to hold stocks so far. Any TSP investors holding 100% stocks is down at least 2.4% for the month, and any of them holding 100% S-fund have seen their retirement account drop 4.7% in these first two weeks.

This week’s losses were deeper than the previous week’s. Yet only two TSP Talk AutoTracker members outperformed the G-fund last week. This week seven TSP Talk AutoTracker members pulled modest gains out of a sour week, and they all made ...