AI-readable static review pack

Week 9 Portfolio Summary

4 May 2026. The account sat around breakeven after selling Alphabet and raising cash, creating more flexibility and making patience the main decision.

This website is a personal investment research and portfolio journal. It is not investment advice. I am not FCA-authorised, I do not manage money for other people, and nothing on this site should be treated as a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any investment. All trades, holdings, research notes, and opinions shown here relate to my own personal portfolio and my own decision-making process. Do not copy my trades. Always do your own research and seek professional advice where appropriate.

Back to AI review index · Open public homepage · Machine-readable JSON

4 May 2026 / Weekly Reviews

Week 9 Portfolio Summary

The account sat around breakeven after selling Alphabet and raising cash, creating more flexibility and making patience the main decision.

Snapshot
Stock value
£1,780
Cash
£220
Total portfolio value
£2,000
Week 8 value
£2,008.07
Weekly change
about -£8 (-0.4%)
Starting cost basis
about £1,999
Cash position
about 11% of the portfolio
The portfolio is now basically sitting around the £2,000 mark. That is made up of about £1,780 in stocks and £220 in cash. Compared with last week, when the account was at £2,008.07, it is only down by around £8, so this was not really a bad week in terms of the total value.
The main thing that changed this week is the structure of the account. We are no longer fully invested. Selling Alphabet has left us with a proper cash position, which makes the portfolio feel a bit more protected and gives us more room to think before putting money back into anything.
Against the original cost basis of about £1,999, the account is basically flat. That is not exciting, but it is still a lot better than where we were a few weeks ago when the portfolio was under much more pressure.

How the week felt
This week felt more careful than exciting. It was not a week where the portfolio pushed on strongly, but it also did not fall apart. After the big recovery over the last month, the account has cooled off and is now sitting almost exactly around breakeven.
I think that is actually quite useful because it gives us a bit of a reset. We are not chasing losses like we were earlier, but we are also not far enough ahead to get too comfortable. The account feels steadier, but I still think we need to be careful with the next few decisions.
The biggest difference is that holding cash makes the account feel less exposed. Before, everything had to keep working because we were basically fully invested. Now we have some cash on the side, so we can be more patient and wait for a better opportunity instead of forcing a trade.

What helped the portfolio
The best thing this week was locking in the Alphabet gain. Alphabet had become one of the stronger names in the portfolio, so selling it and taking about £40 profit was a decent result. It means at least part of the recent recovery has actually been banked rather than just sitting as a paper gain.
The cash is also a positive. It gives us flexibility. If something good drops back to a better price, we can use the cash. If the market gets messy again, the cash also helps stop the portfolio from being fully exposed.
Symbotic is still one of the main names to watch. It has recovered well compared with where it was earlier, but I still do not want to treat that as proof that the risk has gone. It can move quickly both ways, especially around earnings.

What still concerns me
The main concern is that the portfolio is still only just around breakeven. It has recovered nicely, but it has not really built a proper cushion yet. That means one bad week could still take us back below the starting value.
Another thing is that selling Alphabet takes out one of the cleaner quality names from the portfolio. I am happy we took profit, but Alphabet was also one of the better long-term positions, so the question now is what we do with the cash. I do not want to just throw it into something weaker for the sake of being invested.
Symbotic is also still a risk. If the earnings are strong, it could help the portfolio a lot. But if the numbers are only okay or the market does not like the guidance, it could give back some of the recent recovery quite quickly.

Trades and changes
The main change this week was selling Alphabet completely. That realised about £40.63 profit and left the account with around £220 in cash.
Overall, the portfolio is now more cautious than before. It still has growth exposure through the other holdings and ETFs, but it is no longer fully deployed.

My thoughts on positioning
Right now, I do not think we need to rush the cash back into the market. The cash is useful, especially with Symbotic earnings coming up and the market still capable of being choppy.
The best thing to do is probably to wait and only use the cash if there is a proper reason. If Symbotic drops unfairly after earnings, we can think about it. If Meta, ASML, VUAG or QQQA pull back, those could be cleaner places to add. But I do not want to buy something just because the cash is sitting there.
So the plan for now is simple: stay patient, watch the key names, and only redeploy the cash when the setup actually makes sense.

Main lesson from the week
The main lesson this week is that taking profit is not the same as giving up. Selling Alphabet means we protected some of the recovery and made the portfolio a bit safer.
Earlier in the month, the main job was to not panic while the portfolio was down. Now that the account has recovered back to around breakeven, the job is different. The focus now is to not give the recovery back by chasing the wrong thing.
Being around breakeven is not amazing, but it gives us a fresh starting point. From here, the decisions need to be more selective.

What I want to watch next week
Whether the portfolio can stay around or above £2,000.
Whether Symbotic earnings are strong enough to justify holding it.
Whether the £220 cash should stay untouched or be used somewhere better.
Whether Meta, ASML, QQQA and VUAG keep doing the main work in the portfolio.
Whether gold, Realty Income and Rheinmetall start to recover or keep dragging.
Whether the market stays supportive for growth stocks after recent earnings.

Overall conclusion
Overall, Week 9 was quiet in terms of the total portfolio value, but important in terms of positioning.
The account moved from about £2,008 to around £2,000, so the weekly change was very small. The bigger point is that we now have £220 in cash after selling Alphabet and taking a profit.
That makes the portfolio feel a bit more cautious and flexible. We have protected some of the recent recovery, and we now have money available if a better opportunity comes up.
For now, I think the right approach is to stay patient. The portfolio is not miles ahead yet, but it is no longer under the same pressure as before. The next step is to be careful with the cash and not force the next trade.