Week of February 28, 2026: From Growth Heat to Real-Asset Ballast (and a Cleaner Book)

Portfolio Performance

• Start of week: 9,762.04 EUR
• End of week: 9,815.39 EUR
• Change: +53.35 EUR (+0.55%)

After the prior update (where I talked about building a balanced core with tech plus defenses and hedges), this week was the “follow-through” phase: I simplified the book, cut some high-volatility growth exposure, and rotated harder into energy, inflation protection, gold, and cash-like liquidity.

Market Context (Brief)

The tone this week felt like classic late-cycle cross-currents: risk assets still had pockets of strength, but my signals kept flashing concentration risk—particularly in tech/semis—and favored more resilient sleeves (real assets, short duration, and defensives). I treated it as an environment where I’d rather be robust than perfectly optimized.

What I Traded (and Why)

February 28 — Big rebalance kickoff: reduce idiosyncratic growth, add hedges

• I sold TTD (9.38) and I sold NET (3.99) to fully exit both positions. The goal was simple: free cash and reduce single-name growth fragility per my agents’ recommendations.
• I sold SNOW (1.05) to trim software-specific risk (initially a partial reduction).
• I sold SOXX (0.76) and I sold NVO (3.10) as early steps to lower semiconductor beta and cut a healthcare position that carried more “binary” risk than I wanted.
• With proceeds, I bought XLE (12.68) to add tactical energy exposure, I bought GLD (0.83) as a hedge sleeve, and I bought SHV (1.58) to raise short-duration “dry powder.”

March 1 — Shift toward defense + inflation protection

• I bought TIP (2.68) to explicitly hedge inflation/real-yield risk.
• To fund that rotation and de-risk, I sold XLK (1.00), I sold SOXX (0.76) again, and I sold NVO (1.56)—continuing the theme of trimming tech/semis and reducing event risk.
• Then I added defense: I bought XLP (5.82) for consumer-staples ballast.

March 2 — Finish clearing the growth clutter; add more staples/liquidity

• I reinforced the defensive sleeve with another XLP buy (2.60) and topped up liquidity with SHV (1.06).
• On the risk-reduction side: I sold XLK (1.00) again, I sold SOXX (0.76) again, then fully exited remaining high-vol names by selling SNOW (1.04) and cutting the last meaningful piece of NVO (1.55) under my cut-loss discipline.
• I also added more inflation hedge with TIP (2.09).

March 3 — Energy refinement + small satellites

• I began shifting from pure ETF exposure into a higher-quality single name: I bought XOM (3.01) for integrated energy value/income characteristics.
• To keep concentration in check while funding adds: I sold XLE (12.56), trimmed financials via XLF (3.38), and made final nibbles lower in tech via small sells of SOXX (0.30) and XLK (0.40).
• I increased hedges with GLD (0.71) and initiated a tiny satellite position: I bought BITCOIN (0.002598) as a capped-risk diversifier.
• I also made a small healthcare add with LLY (0.11)—a tactical entry funded by trims.

March 4–7 — Tightening exposures; “conservative rebalance” mode

• On March 4 I took some gold off with a GLD trim (1.00 sold) and trimmed semis again (SOXX 0.30 sold) while reallocating into financials (XLF 6.80 bought) and more inflation protection (TIP 1.56 bought).
• March 5 continued the conservative shift: I trimmed some cyclicals (XLF 3.72 sold, XLE 2.93 sold, small XLK 0.20 sold) and redeployed into hedges/liquidity (TIP 2.08 bought, GLD 0.37 bought, SHV 0.28 bought).
• March 6 was the real “clean-up”: I reduced financial/energy ETF concentration (XLF 3.35 sold, XLE 2.64 sold), fully exited remaining broad tech exposure via selling my last slice of QQQ (0.37), finished exiting semis by selling the remainder of SOXX (0.14), and closed the small healthcare trade (LLY 0.11 sold) to keep things tight.
• Then I reallocated deliberately: more single-name energy (XOM 2.00 bought), plus hedges (TIP 2.09 bought, GLD 0.25 bought).
• March 7 was a final funding tweak: I trimmed gold (GLD 0.5 sold) to add energy back in measured size (XOM 1 bought, XLE 1 bought).

Where I Landed

By week’s end my book looked cleaner and more intentional: meaningful sleeves in SHV/TIP for stability, a larger tilt to energy via XLE + XOM, modest hedges in GLD, a defensive anchor in staples (XLP) and quality healthcare (JNJ), plus a very small crypto satellite.

Outlook for Next Week

Following up on my earlier “balanced core” plan, next week I’m watching two things:
1) whether tech momentum stabilizes enough to justify rebuilding exposure beyond my tiny residual XLK stub, and
2) whether energy continues to pay for its portfolio real estate without becoming overcrowded.

My base case is to stay disciplined: keep liquidity available via SHV/cash, maintain inflation protection through TIP, and only add risk if the concentration signals cool off materially.