John Phelps’s Portfolio

WE took a hefty loss on our holding in Belhaven Brewery owner Greene King last week when its shares finally triggered a sell signal under our stop loss system.

They had been teetering on the brink for some time and only last Sunday we cautioned that they were in imminent danger under our rules where we sell notional investments in any share which has fallen 10 per cent from previous peaks.

The group’s fall from favour started with the Brexit vote but has gathered pace in the past month as investors fret about its lack of foreign earnings at a time when the pound has slumped to further lows.

Even so, some believe the shares are still worth holding ahead of a trading update at the end of next month when there are hopes that directors will signal confidence with a further increase in the dividend.

Other major domestic earners fared better after recent price weakness with Royal Mail and Pennon staging modest rallies following news of a pick-up in UK inflation that increases the possibility of price rises.

Lloyds Banking also perked up as analysts bet against a further cut in interest rates in 2016.

Most other recommendations recorded only minor movements with the total valuation of our four portfolios down by less than 0.3 per cent when we carried out our usual review of progress on Wednesday morning.

There were exceptions, though, and Royal rat catcher Rentokil Initial pushed to new peaks after directors unveiled a 32 per cent increase in revenues in the last quarter, much of it down to the effect of foreign currency earnings.

At the other end of the spectrum, Airwick to Nurofen group Reckitt Benckiser took a nasty fall after its own trading update that included further disappointing news from its business in South Korea, which has been hit by a backlash over health problems associated with its humidifier equipment.