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My Shares and Shares ISA and Self-Invested Private Pension (SIPP) portfolios have began 2026 strongly. Some holdings are up by double digits, which is a pleasing shock.
Let’s take a better take a look at what’s occurring, and why one FTSE 100 inventory has began to make me uneasy.
Massive portfolio strikes
One sturdy inventory market commerce at first of 2026 has been synthetic intelligence (AI). Rising AI-led demand is making a scarcity in reminiscence chips, pushing up costs.
I don’t personal any of those reminiscence chip shares, however my SIPP holding in main chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Firm has risen 8.7%.
In the meantime, my largest holding, MercadoLibre, has jumped 8.2%, largely off the again of Venezuela developments. It operates Latin America’s largest e-commerce market, and will now theoretically re-enter Venezuela (if the federal government embraces capitalism).
Even one in every of my worst-ever inventory picks — mRNA vaccine maker Moderna — has joined the social gathering. It’s up 15% to date this yr (although it’s nonetheless too deeply within the crimson for me).
Up 11%, BlackRock World Mining Belief continues to profit from rocketing gold and copper costs, constructing on its 73% surge final yr.
A more moderen place — premium sportswear model On Holding — has elevated 9%.
Booming defence shares
One other development my portfolio’s benefitting from is a pointy rise in defence shares. This has been sparked by occasions in Venezuela and elsewhere, with President Trump now calling for US army spending to rise massively to $1.5trn in 2027.
As such, BAE Methods and Rolls-Royce are up 19.7% and 10.3% respectively, yr up to now. BAE sources almost half its income from the US.
My third-largest holding, Axon Enterprise, has additionally benefitted, rising nearly 8% because it has some defence-related income.
A smaller holding — electrical plane producer Joby Aviation — may additionally profit from larger army spending. It has a deal to provide the US Division of Protection with plane. As such, its inventory has risen 15.5% in 2026.
I’m getting fearful
Whereas I’m proud of this begin, I’m clearly not counting my chickens after only one week. AI and defence shares may rapidly pull again, and never all my shares are up (Roblox is down 10% and in freefall).
One holding from the FTSE 100 I’ve been worrying about is Coca-Cola HBC (LSE:CCH). The corporate makes and distributes Coca-Cola manufacturers throughout a number of European and African international locations, from “the West Coast of Eire to the tropics of Nigeria“.
The inventory has jumped 42% prior to now 12 months, pushed by stable operational efficiency.
So what’s my concern? Nicely, many of the firm’s income comes from mushy drinks, and I concern gross sales of those may more and more be impacted by GLP-1 weight-loss medicine.
A number of scientific research present these remedies can cut back candy cravings, which may theoretically embrace sugary drinks (and probably even their style, making them seem extra metallic).
As every day Wegovy capsules develop into cheaper and accessible to numerous tens of millions extra individuals over the subsequent decade, together with in rising markets, I fear this might damage gross sales progress.
Admittedly, Coca-Cola HBC additionally sells water and occasional, and doesn’t have a big snacks enterprise. The inventory’s cheap. So I don’t see any speedy hazard.
Nonetheless, I concern it may finally endure an analogous destiny to Diageo. As such, I’ll be preserving Coca-Cola HBC on a decent leash, whereas exploring different FTSE 100 alternatives.
