Why is the TSP I Fund (EFA) daily percentage return so greatly different?

[EWB!]

I have noticed slight and mildly large differences between the TSP daily listing of the fund’s returns; however, todays are greatly different. The market shows that The EFA earned 1.03% but the TSP folks calculated the value at only .16% earnings. I have always wondered what the right fund is to watch and taken the EFA directly from the TSP Talk commentary and from the TSP.gov site references. Is EFA, E.g., iShares MSCI EAGE Index Fund (EFA), nolonger being used? Can someone recommend the correct matching fund to watch? I use VXF for the S Fund, SPY for C Fund and AGG for the F Fund as well.

Mercy, I thought I was making lots of money toady in the I Fund. Thx.
EWB!

 

[James48843]

Stock price is only one component of I fund. The other is currency risk. If the value of currencies change, they can negate gains in stock prices.

There is no single index you can watch that takes both stock values and currency prices into account. It is what it is.

 

[RealMoneyIssues]

It is what it is.

Which is why I no longer consider it for investing... BirchTree on the other hand, swears by it.

 

[EWB!]

-----Thanks for your comments folks. Watching the world markets in the currencies arena at (http://money.cnn.com/data/currencies/) clarifies your remarks, this is a great web link by the way, I like the map-based depiction of world stats. Appreciate the assist. Thx.

EWB!

 

[nnuut]

The I Fund is Nnuuts! I hardly ever invest in the I Fund, the Fair Value will really stick it to you when you least expect it!

 

[tsptalk]

I have noticed slight and mildly large differences between the TSP daily listing of the fund’s returns; however, todays are greatly different. The market shows that The EFA earned 1.03% but the TSP folks calculated the value at only .16% earnings. I have always wondered what the right fund is to watch and taken the EFA directly from the TSP Talk commentary and from the TSP.gov site references. Is EFA, E.g., iShares MSCI EAGE Index Fund (EFA), nolonger being used? Can someone recommend the correct matching fund to watch? I use VXF for the S Fund, SPY for C Fund and AGG for the F Fund as well.


Mercy, I thought I was making lots of money toady in the I Fund. Thx.
EWB!

Check out the sticky threads (top 2) in the I-fund forum.

Why The (I) Fund Gains/Loses When Least Expected

What is a "FV" and how does it work?

 

[Boghie]

Tom, et. al.,

Good info. Lousy reality...

So, currency value changes wiped out 4/5ths of the 'I Fund' gain yesterday. Investing and/or trading this market is hard enough without that kind of vulnerability. I have to wonder if today's potential losses will be softened by currency valuation:notrust:.

I have seen 1/5 of a point adjustments, but never 4/5ths.

Oh well, another lesson learned.

And, a lesson I can't really resolve with just one IFT left.

 

[tsptalk]

The EFA is just an ETF and it tries to take currency into consideration. The problem for the TSP is that the foreign markets are closed so much earlier than U.S. markets and they have to actually make a "guess" at the I-fund price. Late movement in stocks or the dollar will have an impact - and then they have to consider if they were off the day before, etc.

This site will give you a pretty good idea on the EAFE quote, and you can see it in dollars or local currency so you'll know the effect of the dollar on the EFA that day / month / year, etc.

http://www.msci.com/products/indices/size/standard/performance.html