Daily Market Commentary

It was another mixed week for the TSP funds after a comeback move by the bulls to end the week on Friday. For the week the S&P 500 was down slightly while the smalls caps of the S-fund and the International I-fund both closed slightly higher. The F-fund (bonds) were down on Friday and also slipped 0.15% for the week. The I-fund continues to lead for the year with an impressive 11.7% gain. Now we head into one of the most key earnings weeks of the quarter with many of the big tech stocks ...

We saw a little volatility on Thursday but the bulls were still around late waiting for an opportunity. We did get a sea of mostly red in the indices yesterday, and the S&P 500 turned negative for the week, but even on a day where the bears took control, the dip buyers were buying late into the close. Bond yields slipped lower (bonds and the F-fund up) on slightly higher jobless claims and existing home sales coming in light.

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Stocks battled back from a weak open once again on Wednesday and, if you like watching paint dry, this is the market for you. There's an old adage that you shouldn't short (bet against) a dull market so the bulls seem to be in control. The Dow lost 80-points on the day while the other indices were mostly flat. Bond yields rallied pushing the F-fund down again, and the dollar was up putting pressure on the I-fund.

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Stocks were mostly flat on Tuesday with the Dow shedding 11-points. The S&P 500 was up slightly and the S-fund lagged as the regional banks took down the small cap indices again. Bonds were up slightly although yields were mixed. The battle between inflation and a potentially weakening economy is what the market and the Fed are facing two weeks before the next FOMC meeting and interest rate hike is scheduled.

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Bond yields spiked higher as inflation concerns were back, but the recently beaten down bank stocks actually benefit from higher yields so the financials rallied lifting the market, and particularly the regional banks in the small cap indices. The Dow gained 101-points and as you can see in these charts below, all of those gains came in the final hour of trading as once again we see late buying from the bulls. The F-fund was down because of those higher yields, and the dollar rallied sharply making ...