TommyIV's TSP Talk Blog

Earnings and low volatility continued to do well for large cap stock indices this week. The S&P 500 (C-fund) produced its fourth straight week of gains and its 59th record close this year. Without the heavy weighted companies lifting large caps, small caps (S-fund) lagged this week ending the week flat and off its highs. The performance of small caps reflects the entire market a bit better than the large caps. Even the sectors of the S&P 500 were split in performance but the gains out of consumer ...

The momentum of the previous week continued into this week propelled by earnings and inertia. All three TSP stock funds were up for the week with the C and S-funds up more than 1%. The C-fund was up the first four days of the week before finally pulling back slightly Friday to end a seven day streak of gains. Earnings were mostly over reaching expectations for the third quarter and that kept new money coming while the previous highs had a target on them. The C and S-fund both reached new highs on ...

Recent market weakness remained intact early in the week pulling stocks down but robust earnings sparked a two day rally to end the week distancing the indices from the recent lows. The bears have been in control since the beginning of September but the bulls displayed some dominance with two back to back rallies to turn weekly losses to around 2% gains. A gap up Thursday was sparked by strong bank earnings among others and the build up of gains attracted underinvested bulls suffering from the fear ...

Returns were mixed this week among all the TSP funds. The C-fund, which follows the S&P 500 index, had its best week since August while the small cap S-fund was flat for the week and the foreign market I-fund was down more than a quarter percent. However the greatest loss for the TSP funds came from the F-fund. Investors are exiting bonds even with a deal made to avoid payment default by the government until December. The volatile action continued coming into this week but leveled off by Friday. ...

Stocks wrapped up an ugly month on Thursday before starting the new month and quarter with gains. Still all the TSP funds were down for the week with the I-fund taking the greatest loss. For the S&P 500, Thursday marked the biggest monthly loss since March 2020 and ended a five quarter winning streak. It seemed likely stock indices were set to perform their usual act and climb back to the highs after the previous week's string of gains, but alternatively unresolved pressures and a spike in ...