Below is a paraphrase of the full portfolio update and market review article I write weekly. Click here for a full portfolio and economic review, plus a break down of all my trades (which you can see in my profile as well).

"The first week of May was a volatile one that ended in losses for the major averages. The NASDAQ had the worst of it with a 1.5% loss followed by 0.3% from the Dow Jones and 0.2% from the S&P.

The week started with some minor gains and then selling slapped the S&P down to its lowest level in almost a year. The market then bounced back from that weak start and made gains for the next two days. The rally really gained steam on Wednesday following the FOMC meeting where a 50-basis point rate hike was announced. Fed Chair Powell confirmed that a 75 point hike is not being considered which may have been the catalyst for the midweek rally. The S&P had made over a 3% gain on Wednesday.

By the end of the trading day on Thursday, those gains and more were lost. Friday was also weak and did not show much improvement even after the April jobs report beat expectations. Earnings season continued this week, but even the good headlines from notable reports still spurred selling due to market headwinds/concerns.

To date, I have invested $8,610 into the account, the total value of all positions plus any cash on hand is $8,814.78. That’s a gain of mere gain of $204.78 for a total return of 2.38%. The account is up $164.70 for the week which is a 1.90% gain. This week we made back more than half of the losses from last week.

Below is a table of everything we are invested in so far. There you can see my number of shares, shares bought through dividend reinvestments, average cost, gains, and more. The tickers in green are positions that I bought shares in this week.

This week we received two dividends. $6.17 from AT&T ($T) and $2.59 from Verizon ($VZ).

In my portfolio, all positions have dividend reinvestment enabled. I don’t hold onto the dividend, I don’t try to time the reinvestment, I just let my broker do it automatically. All dividends were reinvested.

Dividends received for 2022: $113.99

Portfolio’s Lifetime Dividends: $136.91"