TSP Market Summary: Week of September 29, 2018

By Roy Weisert, PhD, CFP

Key Takeaways

  • Markets hit record highs recently despite slight weekly decline and trade talk concerns
  • Strong economy with low unemployment supports continued equity fund allocation strategy
  • Friday's unemployment report will be key market driver for TSP performance next week

The S&P 500 fell slightly this week closing Friday at 2914. However, overall it was a good quarter with both the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial hitting new record highs just two weeks ago. Trade talks and tariffs continue to dominate the news, the economy remains strong with low unemployment and good corporate earnings, and interest rates are still low from a historical perspective. Next week, the big news will come Friday when the monthly unemployment numbers are reported. For TSP TIPS, we continue to be bullish and recommend remaining 100 percent invested with the same allocation in the TSP equity funds (C/S/I). Lastly, we also wanted to mention that TSP TIPS celebrated its fifth year of TSP TIPS this month with the first one being 12 September 2013.<br>Performance Data through 30 September:<br>Year to Date (YTD): 4.87%<br>Last 12 Months (PIP): 10.66%