Playing the I fund

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Wheels said:
Incorrect. The EAFE was down .623%. 12 cents was what we should have expected. The link that Tom has at the bottom of this page is the EFA, a fund that tracks the EAFE.

Tom, you might want to consider re-labeling that link. It's causing a great deal of confusion, particularly amongst newer members who haven't been involved in this discussion before.

Dave
<><
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Hey Wheels,

Where do you get your quote for the EAFE?

I think the confusion is from "EAFE" being in the description of the EFA index.

Thanx!:)
 
Phragmanic said:
Is it practical to be both a "buy & hold" and a "position trader"? I've considered carrying a balance in I fund, say, 30% or total portfolio and then trying to position trade in C, S, & I as the situation suggests. It'd be nice to have a cushion with growth in I fund... Thoughts??
Click to expand...


That will work, but be aware that every time you make an IFT the number of shares you own in the I fund will change as you try to keep 30% in it. Even though you may only want to trade the C or S, you end up re-balancing everything.
 
Rod said:
Hey Wheels,

Where do you get your quote for the EAFE?

I think the confusion is from "EAFE" being in the description of the EFA index.

Thanx!:)
Click to expand...

http://www.msci.com/equity/index2.html

If you need a close percentage rate to use for the daily pay out for the I fund, you can use the link above. EAFE rate is at the top of list and available usually after 2:30est. Use rate under title ' In U.S. Dollars ' and ' Daily '. You can ask Greg or Wheels for the conversion formula to cents, they're pretty good at it. If it shows rate for the day before, just change date and click ' GO '. For sure the rate will be available after 3 est.
 
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vectorman said:
http://www.msci.com/equity/index2.html

If you need a close percentage rate to use for the daily pay out for the I fund, you can use the link above. EAFE rate is at the top of list and available usually after 2:30est. Use rate under title ' In U.S. Dollars ' and ' Daily '. You can ask Greg or Wheels for the conversion formula to cents, they're pretty good at it. If it shows rate for the day before, just change date and click ' GO '. For sure the rate will be available after 3 est.
Click to expand...

Thanx for the info!
 
Ah... the Secret I Fund Formula.

Previous I Fund Close X EAFE USD Daily%. :)
Example:
$18.00 X .500% = 0.09 cent gain
New Price = $18.09
- or -
$18.00 X (.500%) = 0.09 cent loss.
New Price = $17.91

Right? :confused:

Then toss in the TSP Board Daily Twist to throw off the Day Traders. :confused:

Thanks Big Dave <><
 
Rod said:
They should to post that publicly.

How about it guys?:cool:
Click to expand...

OK. I'll try to make this comprehensive yet succinct if that's possible. It seems like I have been repeating this stuff a lot lately.

On the bottom of Tom's TSPTalk pages are some links. One of them is labeled EFA (I Fund). The graph displayed there is for the EFA which is an exchange traded fund based on the EAFE. Over a long period of time, the I fund price and the EFA will correlate but from day to day the differences can be significant. The EFA sometimes trades based on things that have already happened in the EAFE. Other times it trades based on things that are anticipated for the EAFE. BUT it is not the EAFE. There is no way to monitor the EAFE intraday, other than to watch foreign markets and the dollar, so Tom posts a graph to the EFA so we at least have some point of reference. But again, our I fund price is not based on this EFA, but rather Morgan Stanleys EAFE.

Each day, Morgan Stanley posts the closing EAFE price between 2:30 and 3:00 at this site

www.msci.com/equity/index2.html

When you first open the page, you are usually directed to the previous day's results. There is a spot near the top of the page where you can adjust the date to the current day.

When you get to the correct day you will see a chart that has headings across the top for daily, month to date, quarter to date, and year to date columns, first in local currencies and then in U.S. dollars. Down the side you'll see rows for various indices, the first row is for the EAFE. Follow it across until you get to the daily column under U.S. Dollars. That number is the daily change for the EAFE. It will represent the exact change for the I fund about 95% of the time. Just multiply that percentage by the previous day’s I fund price and you should get the new I fund price.

EXCEPT when the TSP board's investment manager, Barclays Global Investors, adjusts the price. This occurs when there is a significant stock or currency movement after the close of the foreign markets but before the close of our markets. It’s called fair valuation and it is done to keep traders from taking advantage of what they call “stale” prices. It is openly explained on the TSP.gov website. When they do it, they will always make it up within a day or two. In other words, if the quote is supposed to go down 5 cents but it goes down 10 instead, then they will add 5 cents to whatever the change is supposed to be the next day.

Having said all that, ( comprehensive maybe, succinct, not so much) there is not much good in knowing all this, since the quote comes out after our noon deadline and can't help us with our day to day decisions. But it does help understand the I fund pricing.

Dave
<><
 
Just musing on the name of this thread, "Playing the I fund." Hmmm...think about it carefully. You wanna be a "player", or an "investor"?
 
Dave thanks for taking the time to explain it again. Now here's a tip for new members at this site. There are many senior members at this site who have gain a wealth of knowledge through experience, school of hard knocks or following other investment techs. There are some really good nuggets that are posted at this site, such as the I fund info Wheels put out above; or special links like Teknobucks use to; or Dow Theory info like Spaf; or Tech info like from Robo or Tom or the Shark.....etc. What I do when I see some good info, is to left click scroll the info, right click copy, then go to programs open up microsoft word, paste it, and save it in a file I name 'I fund notes' or maybe 'TSP notes 1' or 2 or 3...... That way I can review and collect some of the great info I see posted here.:cool:
 
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vectorman said:
What I do when I see some good info, is to left click scroll the info, right click copy, then go to programs open up microsoft word, paste it, and save it in a file I name 'I fund notes' or maybe 'TSP notes 1' or 2 or 3...... That way I can review and collect some of the great info I see posted here.:cool:
Click to expand...

EGGZACTLY!:cool:

That's what I did. I named it "I Fund Pricing".:)
 
My aunt says the I-fund should close today at $18.18 (down 10 cents). Margin of error is +/- a penny.
 
The good news is Japan will help us out today. Up 2% and dollar/yen flat.
The bad news UK is down 0.3% and dallar/pound 0.7% so down 1%
EU down on avg of .3 and dollar/euro 0.3%. so down 0.6%
I'm guessing EAFE will be close to flat if things stay this way.
 
I think that the dollar will weaken vs. Y & E. FTSE may just rally again today. Today could be flat, but the potential is there to be a banner day.
 
Wheels said:
MSCI says 18.24 down 6 cents +/- a penny. As always, that's without a fair valuation adjustment.
Click to expand...
It was down 6 cents but at $18.22 per share.
 
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