TommyIV's TSP Talk Blog

The beginning of the new quarter paralleled optimistic headlines and favorable economic data setting up buyers to continue their control of the stock market. Manufacturing activity in China perked up in March according to reports after coming off a three year low in February. This sparked investors' interest who previously were concerned that trade disputes between the U.S. and China were dragging down global production; the report discredited these worries. Buyers were provoked again Wednesday with China as reports suggested big hurdles in trade talks were resolved between negotiators.

Stocks continued their streak Friday thanks to the Jobs report which provided more evidence that the 'coming recession' is not so imminent. The numbers were nothing over the top but rather about where they should be; a good sign the economy is continuing to grow at a healthy pace.

Noteworthy this week was the low volume. The week held the lowest volume of the year with Friday's action following the Jobs report having no exception. Low volume trading allows big trades to cause big moves but that doesn't necessarily mean price action was exaggerated because even sellers remained on the sidelines. Most traders may be waiting for earnings season to begin next week before making any moves.

All the TSP stock funds were up more than 2% for the week with S-fund leading. The F-fund lagged the TSP funds dropping 0.29%.




Here are the weekly, monthly, and annual TSP fund returns for the week ending April 5th:




The SPY (S&P 500 / C-fund) gapped up Monday and continued to move ever closer to the highs of September. The support of the rising trading channel was challenged the previous week and held to give buyers more confidence. The index would now need to break below previous support to fill the open gap produced this week. The C-fund was up 2.09% for the week.




The Dow Completion Index (S-fund) outperformed again this week but held its highs of the week to the highs of February. The 200-day EMA held as support twice in March so the index may contain its action within the sideways trading channel its created maybe until earnings season really starts taking off. The S-fund was up 2.52% for the week.




EFA (EAFE Index /I-fund) moved higher this week producing gaps in the process. There is still room above the current price before the top of the rising trading channel but the win this week was surpassing the March highs. The I-fund was up 2.01% for the week.




AGG (Bonds / F-fund) fell this week but selling slowed down late in the week to prevent an official test of its 20-day EMA as well as filling the open gap below the moving average. The F-fund fell 0.29% for the week to lag the TSP funds as the only fund in negative territory for the week.




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
Weekly Wrap-Ups Archive
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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.