I was looking at the TSP Monthly Returns located on Govexec.com. It is alocated at the bottom of the page under the daily fund quotes. I found this information between the I Fund and the EAFE stock index interesting. For the most part the two follow each other very close but the end of 2007 and the first 3 months of 2008 look out of whack. Maybe somebody with more experience can explain it to me.
Attachment 3816
That's when Barclays took their first write down and started screwing with the FV. Up until then it was very predictable folks on the MB were even able to calculate it pretty much to the penny.
They did two "special" FV's 1/31 and 2/29 and cheated I Funders out of $1M. It's in the FRTIB minutes.
Barclay's incompetence is the real reason for the limits.
So if the responsibility of the FRTIB is to protect the TSP funds (that is what they are using as the excuse to restrict our IFT's) then why is Barclay's still employed?????
I took a look at current YTD %'s for both the I-Fund (listed below as TSP)
and the EFA which is an ETF which reflects the MSCI EAFE INDEX. Please
take note of the close results. This is part of my tracking. When someone
make a boo-boo with fair value, adjustments to fix the "deficits" are what
I use to determine which fund I'm more likely to go heavy in. (FYI).
EFA= -3.10% YTD
TSP= -3.51% YTD
Since the MSCI EAFE INDEX was soooo far off it's mark YTD, I'm now
curious as to the final EFA figures for 2007. I'll be checking that out
a.s.a.p. I would guess that Liquidity Issues & Write Downs from Barclays
has played a part in the "behind closed doors" solutions that the TSP
Board had to take into consideration when the &%$# hit the fan. Need-
To-Know played a part in leaving it's TSP Participants in the dark. One
can only imagine the type of fear which spread into their minds when
they felt an immediate (emergency) fix was needed. After all, If they
didn't react, there could have been a run on the bank (fund).
I'm not one to easily fall for conspiracy theories, however, if the Board
feared such a negative outcome because of Barclays Financial issues,
then the Board would justify any action under the guisse of "Protecting
The TSP Participants". Even at the cost of some freedoms that we have
grown acustom to. Wish I was the fly on the wall for that meeting !
Check this post for the info from FRTIB minutes on the FV scam.
Impossible to have a "run" on the fund. How would anybody but retirees get their money out? And even that takes time, you can't do it overnight. For the rest of us, all we could do was reduce contributions to matching - or make loans. And they can take as long as they want to process those.see this link for explanation. Ripped off is what.
http://www.tsptalk.com/mb/showpost.p...&postcount=724]
Your absolutely right about it being impossible to have a "run" on the fund.
Maybe I should choose my words a little more wisely. My definition of "run"
was referring to 3.9 million participants looking to move their hard earned
money into safety, all at once, into the G Fund. Sorry for the poor choice
of words. I'll check the FRTIB minutes tonight and thanks for the scoop.
I think the crazy end of month adjustments on I are a highly reactive attempt by Barclay to smooth out their exchange rate vulnerabilities. It may be that they do a re-assesment of exchange rates on the last working day of each month, and it has only become an issue in the last year or so as the dollar did the roller coaster. But that's just my 2 cents, may be zinc and not copper.
"All the prophets of Doom, Can always find room, In a world full of worry and fear..." - Protest Song, Monty Python
Dang, I remember reading something about Barclay's late last week or over the weekend but didn't save the the site. It was not flattering news. Shoot I will have to try and find that information if I can and I will post it if I do. Was reading to many financial sites over the last couple of days.
Looks like I may have opened a can of worms.
Well good luck to all that have had their bans lifted. However, we all need to stay diligent. The next couple of months with the restricted IFT's will prove a challenge to more than a few people. Do not forget that there was still something wrong with the way everything has come to pass over the last few months.
With that said I have been reading more posts now that people are not afraid to start writing again. Now I am more confussed on what do do than before. So many different opinions. Let's hope I can do half as good as I did last May, June and half way through July (I got greedy and lost a nice chunk of change late-July). So far 2008 has been a challenge. The first quarter I was -2.12%. But for April I was up 2.52%.
Again good luck to all.
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EFA (I Fund) (delayed) (Stockcharts.com Real-time) |
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