Unlimited IFTs Are Still In Effect

[Wolverine]

http://www.fedsmith.com/article/1472/

The article in the above link, where it says.....The new interim regulation is effective today, January 7, 2008 has nothing to do with Unlimited Interfund Transers that are still in effect as I now post this.

It seems to me that from this article, there is an assumption that we are now under the 2 interfund transfer limit per month as of January 7, 2008.

This is not the case. This article was not clear to me with where we stand currently with Unlimited IFTs.

The fact of the matter is, we are still under Unlimited IFTs.

I called TSP tonight and talked with two people about what the current situation is regarding IFTs.

They have informed me, that we are still under Unlimited IFTs currently, until we are sent a letter stating what the new regulations will be.

There is nothing on the TSP website either about being currently under the 2 IFTs per month.

I asked them numerous times while on the phone, show me where it is said that we are under the 2 IFTs per month. They said we are still under the current Unlimited IFTs.

I also proposed to them, that if they could, Post on the Front Page of the TSP website the current situation regarding this issue of what the current Interfund Transers are. They said they would send it through. We shall see with that.

If anyone has any doubts about what I have presented here, please call TSP and talk with them about it also.

Telephone.......TSP........1-877-968-3778

Because of my doubts, with what the Fedsmith article was saying, and how it was implying that we are under the 2 IFTs per month as of January 7, 2008, I myself had to further investigate this situation in order to get the straight info of what IFT regulations we are currently under.

I did this to satisfy myself and also, to give this board, which I have the utmost respect for, the current and up to date info regarding all this.

Thanks again to all, for your efforts with everything concerning the TSP.

Wolverine

 

[RAE]

http://www.fedsmith.com/article/1472/

The article in the above link, where it says.....The new interim regulation is effective today, January 7, 2008 has nothing to do with Unlimited Interfund Transers that are still in effect as I now post this.

It seems to me that from this article, there is an assumption that we are now under the 2 interfund transfer limit per month as of January 7, 2008.

This is not the case. This article was not clear to me with where we stand currently with Unlimited IFTs.

The fact of the matter is, we are still under Unlimited IFTs.

I called TSP tonight and talked with two people about what the current situation is regarding IFTs.

They have informed me, that we are still under Unlimited IFTs currently, until we are sent a letter stating what the new regulations will be.

There is nothing on the TSP website either about being currently under the 2 IFTs per month.

I asked them numerous times while on the phone, show me where it is said that we are under the 2 IFTs per month. They said we are still under the current Unlimited IFTs.

I also proposed to them, that if they could, Post on the Front Page of the TSP website the current situation regarding this issue of what the current Interfund Transers are. They said they would send it through. We shall see with that.

If anyone has any doubts about what I have presented here, please call TSP and talk with them about it also.

Telephone.......TSP........1-877-968-3778

Because of my doubts, with what the Fedsmith article was saying, and how it was implying that we are under the 2 IFTs per month as of January 7, 2008, I myself had to further investigate this situation in order to get the straight info of what IFT regulations we are currently under.

I did this to satisfy myself and also, to give this board, which I have the utmost respect for, the current and up to date info regarding all this.

Thanks again to all, for your efforts with everything concerning the TSP.

Wolverine

I agree that the FedSmith article is a bit misleading. The Jan. 7th date is only a proposed effective date for the interim rule FRTIB posted in late December, which would give them the authority to send warning letters to 3,000 "frequent traders", asking them to stop making so many IFT's, or they would be restricted to making IFT's by snail mail. To me, the Jan 7th date is meaningless, because this interim rule cannot become effective until they post a Final Rule in the Fed. Register, which they have not done yet. And further, they have shot themselves in the foot (as Paladin says) with the interim rule, because they made some serious errors when they posted it (no comment period specified, for one), so the posting is invalid, and they will have to either withdraw it and resubmit it, or at the very least amend it. Folks, this thing is a long, long ways from over. Since they messed up the first interim rule they tried to issue (and will have to reissue it), they are now going to be way behind their original timeline, which was to implement the 2 IFT restrictions this coming April. My guess is that April will come and go, and we will still be making unlimited transfers. In the meantime, though, everyone - please keep your eyes open for any more postings to the Fed. Register by FRTIB. I am very interested to see if they are going to try to post a Final Rule soon, without correcting the errors they made in the previous posting of the Interim Rule.

 

[poolman]

http://www.fedsmith.com/article/1472/

The article in the above link, where it says.....The new interim regulation is effective today, January 7, 2008 has nothing to do with Unlimited Interfund Transers that are still in effect as I now post this.

It seems to me that from this article, there is an assumption that we are now under the 2 interfund transfer limit per month as of January 7, 2008.

This is not the case. This article was not clear to me with where we stand currently with Unlimited IFTs.

The fact of the matter is, we are still under Unlimited IFTs.

I called TSP tonight and talked with two people about what the current situation is regarding IFTs.

They have informed me, that we are still under Unlimited IFTs currently, until we are sent a letter stating what the new regulations will be.

There is nothing on the TSP website either about being currently under the 2 IFTs per month.

I asked them numerous times while on the phone, show me where it is said that we are under the 2 IFTs per month. They said we are still under the current Unlimited IFTs.

I also proposed to them, that if they could, Post on the Front Page of the TSP website the current situation regarding this issue of what the current Interfund Transers are. They said they would send it through. We shall see with that.

If anyone has any doubts about what I have presented here, please call TSP and talk with them about it also.

Telephone.......TSP........1-877-968-3778

Because of my doubts, with what the Fedsmith article was saying, and how it was implying that we are under the 2 IFTs per month as of January 7, 2008, I myself had to further investigate this situation in order to get the straight info of what IFT regulations we are currently under.

I did this to satisfy myself and also, to give this board, which I have the utmost respect for, the current and up to date info regarding all this.

Thanks again to all, for your efforts with everything concerning the TSP.

Wolverine

Thank you Wolverine, Thanks for investigating this. I was wondering what the situation was after reading a couple of post's regarding it. I have no doubt of what you are saying. Thanks again!

 

[Viva_La_Migra]

...Folks, this thing is a long, long ways from over. Since they messed up the first interim rule they tried to issue (and will have to reissue it), they are now going to be way behind their original timeline, which was to implement the 2 IFT restrictions this coming April. My guess is that April will come and go, and we will still be making unlimited transfers. ...

Or, they will simply implement what they want to do, and wait to see if a lawsuit is filed! Remember, these are Presidential appointees we are talking about here. If we had raised $3.8 million at tspshareholder.org, they might have withdrawn their proposal out of fear of a lawsuit. With only a few thousand dollars raised, they aren't worried about a lawsuit.

Any bets Tracey Ray is setting herself up for a cushy new job at Barclays when the Lame Ducks' goose is cooked?

 

[tsptalk]

Finally - An article from the FedSmith that takes a counterpoint - somewhat... http://www.tsptalk.com/tspcorner/archive/tspcorner010808.html

I apologize if someone posted this already.

 

[Wolverine]

Thanks...RAE, for your input here.

Thanks...Poolman, glad I could clear this up a bit.

Thanks...Viva La Migra, interesting input also.

Thanks...Tom, I had not seen that article as of yet. Interesting with the inverse fund alternative. If they are going to take something away from us, maybe they should consider replacing it with something that could offset all this.

 

[Clack]

thanks Tom. Good article. An inverse fund would be a very worthy addition to allow us flexibility. Probably not much chance of it but hopefully it will be considered.

I know this will be an unpopular opinion to state here, but I feel like the hypertraders have screwed the pooch for all of us. I'm a fairly active trader - I averaged 5 IFT's a month last year. That was higher than I would normally do but it was a very volatile year and one must do what one can. But I almost never moved more than 50% of the port on a given day - more commonly the shifts were on the order of 15-20% reallocations. With the so-called Fair Value adjustments there was too much risk of getting whacked by the TSP if you were moving big money in the I fund - sometimes you get lucky sometimes you don't. So if I wanted in or out of the I I would stagger it over several days.

Now with the 2 time limit I will be unable to do that without an increased risk - a greatly increased risk in my opinion. However I do sympathise with the TSP boards view that overactive trading in the I needs to be limited because of costs. They say the daily L fund rebalancing is not the factor - it is the small number of I fund traders moving large amounts on a daily bases.

There does not seem to be an easy answer to this problem. I could live with 4 transfers a month I think. 2 is gonna be real rough at times. I'd be much happier if they put a % cap on the limits rather than an actual number of trades.

 

[bmelichar]

The front page of the TSP website has a link to the Q&A about the new trading limits. They indicate that letters will be sent out in February with the annual participation statements and that the 2 trade change will go into effect in early spring. They go on to say, "under the plan approved by the Board, we will contact frequent traders and strongly urge them to practice self-restraint or face administrative consequences." Whatever that means...

 

[Talltimber]

How long does it take snail mailed IFTs to travel from Iraq and Afghanistan to the TSP office? That could really disappoint our people downrange.

If Tracey Ray and her management gets blamed for a wrecking a pretty good $200B fund they might have some difficulty finding new employment at their current salary.