TSP investors holding the S-fund over last weekend were welcomed Monday with a 1.53% gain. This was a grand outperformance against the other TSP funds for Monday, but investors who held the S-fund through the rest of the week were left with a weekly gain of only 1.21%. The I-fund ended up with the best weekly performance with a 1.62% return.
In retrospect, it seems the best possible Internal Fund Transfers (IFT) possible this week would have been a member holding 100% S-fund coming into the week, then transferred to 100% C-fund on Monday, and then transferred to the I-fund on Tuesday. This hypothetical maneuvering would give a return of 3.42% for the week. However, this trade would have required them to have two IFTs available for the month and use them on back-to-back days. Not likely. This trade would require the investors to have been holding the S-fund all month, carrying its 2.45% January loss into the week, and left them with a January return of only 0.94%.
The C-fund's month-long holders would not be impressed as they carry a 2.62% gain without a single IFT.
But now let's imagine just a single IFT used this week. That member would have been holding 100% S-fund coming into the week then used their IFT on Monday to swap the S-fund for 100% I-fund. This single IFT would give our investor a 2.87% gain for the week.
There is a problem with this scenario. The I-fund is not the most popular fund. Currently, the I-fund's average allocation among the TSP Talk AutoTracker members is under 4%. Compared to the C and S-fund which carry a combined 54% average allocation between the two of them. So, the I-fund trade is less likely given the I-fund unpopularity.
A more likely winner would have been holding 100% S-fund coming into the week then used their IFT on Monday to swap for 100% C-fund. This single IFT would give our investor a 2.39% gain for the week.
Did we see any of these trades among the TSP Talk community?
HarleyLar made a similar trade to boost them into the top 10 this week:
HarleyLar had been holding 100% S-fund since January 3rd. A position that had them at a 1.14% return for the year coming into the week. They moved into 100% C-fund on Tuesday, evading the S-fund's subsequent 0.72% loss on Wednesday. The trade provided them with a 1.82% gain for the week and lifted their 2024 return to 3.02% and put them in third place in the TSP Tak AutoTracker standings.
Impressive trading HarleyLar!
If you have a trade worth celebrating, please leave a comment below and tell us your thought process.
If you haven't yet, start your TSP Talk AutoTracker account for free today.
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 TSP Talk - Market Commentary. If you need some help deciding what to do with your account, perhaps one of our premium services can help.
Thomas Crowley
(TommyIV)
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.
