May 2026 FIRE Portfolio Update: AI To The Moon

May 2026 was a continuation of the huge AI driven bull market that was April. Nasdaq gained another 7%+ for a total YTD gain of over 20% which is absolutely insane. Aside from a few flareups here and there, the war in Iran was no more than an afterthought after Trump TACO’d in April. AI euphoria and EPS revisions dominated the market in May with companies crushing earnings. Retail and Institution alike didn’t want to miss the party and massively FOMO’d into the market without any dips to be had.

If you haven’t already read my posts before, I achieved Financial independence back in late 2020 early 2021 with a portfolio of roughly $1.3m invested in mainly ETFs. This ballooned to $1.7m during the peak of the markets in early 2022 before coming back down to Earth later in 2022. The portfolio has since regained new all time highs as markets rally beyond the previous highs.

This post will be part of a monthly series of portfolio updates that summarizes how my portfolio performed, what trades I executed, what my monthly expenses were, and my general outlook on the economy/markets. This is by no means financial advice so do not look look at me for sage advice. I make stupid trades and make even worse losses quite frequently.

This is simply the performance of my portfolio and how it has performed on a month to month basis.

Monthly Highlights – May 2026

• Net worth is at $3.4m as of May 2026 Month end
• +$300k for the month
• In May, we stayed put in Spain and will be here until September

Market Moves

What is in my portfolio?

---

My portfolio is quite simple and straight forward. I have my holdings primarily spread out between a few ETFs, fixed income, and various single name stocks.

ETFs

Again, my primary holdings are in a few ETFs. My primary holdings are in VTI, VGT, and VCR. I’ve always been a big proponent of big tech and have been heavily invested in the Nasdaq for over a decade. This has paid off very well for me given the massive bull market of the 2010s and is essentially what allowed me to FIRE so quickly.

I used to hold more dividend generating stocks as I was really into this type of investing at a period of time. I currently do not have many dividend specific ETFs as I prefer growth more than income. This kind of goes against the ethos of financial independence but I have enough money coming in from other sources that I don’t need to focus so much on consistent income from my investments.

As markets rallied again to all time highs, I didn’t add much to my position like I did in May 2025. I’m comfortable holding a bit more cash than normal and will wait for more opportunities to arise.

Single name stocks

Some of the single name stocks I own are the following

• RDDT
• ANET
• GOOG
• META
• NBIS
• RITM
• MU

These single name stocks make up less than 5% of my total portfolio. I tend to not buy much single name stocks anymore as there’s no point to take on unnecessary risks when I’m already so diversified with my ETFs.

Real Estate

I own real estate in Bali, Indonesia. While I’m not a big fan of real estate investment as an asset class, this is my personal home for my family. It’s hard to put a price tag on an amazing place to live that you can’t replicate in the rental market. As a home that my kids will make memories and grow up in, it’s no longer an asset that I need to profit from.

It’s hard to Mark to market the value of our home in Bali as the data is not so transparent. However, I believe that with the deal I was able to obtain, and the location of our villa, the value will at the very least hold on to what we paid for it. In addition, I took a margin loan against my portfolio to pay for the purchase. This means I didn’t sell any stock or incur any capital gains tax. I took a loan against my portfolio for the full amount of the purchase and pay an interest rate of 4.5% to Robinhood (my broker).

Fixed Income

I also purchased I-Bonds in 2022 at the height of inflation peak when I-Bonds were paying 9.5%. The rates have come down significantly since then as inflation itself has come down and I no longer bother with I-Bonds.

In the recent high interest rate environment, I had allocated a small portion of my portfolio to fixed income products, specifically purchasing treasury bills with 3-6 month expiry. These were paying out 5.5% which was a great guaranteed income generator. In recent months on the back of anticipated FED rate cuts, this rate was always going to come down which meant stocks should increase.

Well the FED cut rates for the first time since COVID in Sep 2024 which means treasury bill returns will be decreasing for the foreseeable future. My last treasury bill expired in July 2024 and that cash was used to buy the market. I suspect I will not buy any fixed income products for the foreseeable future.

Market Commentary – May 2026

May 2026 was one of the craziest bullish months in my recent memory.The ceasefire talks announced in April cascaded into bullish momentum throughout May. Markets rallied to the moon and never came back. Increased inflation, higher unemployment, and an uncertain situation in the Middle East still was no match for the might of the market. Fueled by endless AI demand, the bull market touched all parts of the AI value chain from data centers, to optical fiber, to of course memory.

A huge swath of big time earnings released in May showed that the party is raging and will continue to rage for the foreseeable future. EPS revisions were the primary item on the menu with big names seeing major revisions in future earnings growth powering the markets to new highs on a daily basis. The spread between trailing PE and forward PE increased drastically which means markets genuinely think some of these names have plenty of room to run.

May showed that any calls for the AI trade to falter are severely misaligned. AI is the main game (if not the only game) in town and until something gives, there is no slowing down the momentum. Technical dips will be had in June but I don’t see a meaningful pullback until probably after the major IPOs have finished (OpenAI, Anthropic, and SpaceX).

It was a month where investors were willing to forgive and forget. hotter inflation, higher yields, war anxiety—as long as AI earnings momentum stayed intact and oil didn’t spiral permanently upward.

Market Value of Portfolio

Here is a history of my portfolio value. As you can see, it’s moved in line with the markets as should be the case since most of my holdings are in ETFs that track the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq.

In Sep 2025, I added my partner’s portfolio to the mix. I’ve avoided doing this for some time as this blog was mainly for my personal purposes but as we are a family now, it’s time to just aggregate everything for the blog purposes.

As with any portfolio that went long in May 2026, the total portfolio value exploded to new highs.

Trades executed for the month of May 2026

---

May was a very active month of trading for me. Markets were on a tear and while I normally don’t trade many single name stocks, I couldn’t resist the FOMO and volatility.

On the back of dips, I sold more puts on Sandisk and Micron. These were incredibly profitable and I’ve made something like $50k+ on Sandisk puts alone. The funny thing is, I would have made more if I had just purchased 100 shares of SNDK outright. However, I like the consistent stable income of selling options and this is just the strategy. Sometimes it pays off better than holding the outright stock, and other times in a raging bull market, it will underperform.

I bought AMD before earnings as I firmly believed (gambled) that it was would beat based on insatiable demand for chips amidst the overall sentiment in AI. I sold a few weeks after for a decent profit.

I sold out of my position in Trade Desk which I initiated last month as the stock did not move as I had hoped.

Finally, I purchased Corning (GLW) and Marvell stock as a way to get more exposure to AI infrastructure.

Sandisk and Micron

I continued selling Cash covered puts on Sandisk and also started selling puts on Micron. I figure this was free money given the hype and strength around the memory market at this time. I would have made more if I had just bought the stocks outright but that’s just how it goes sometimes.

Summary of stock and ETF purchases

Option Activity

Portfolio withdrawals and expenses

---

Withdrawals from my portfolio is an important part of the financial independence ethos. The 4% withdrawal rate rule is one of the main concepts of the FIRE movement which I try to adhere to. Generally, I prefer to sell from my portfolio when markets are near or at all time highs to capture, and only when I actually need the cash.

For the month of May 2026, we spent the time in Barcelona. We are here for 5 months as we will have a 2nd child and have decided that giving birth in Europe makes more sense than giving birth in Bali. It’s a bit of a lifestyle shock having gotten so used to the amenities of Bali but that will be the case living anywhere else from now on. I like Spain as a country but the meal times are the real struggle! Nothing opens until 1pm for lunch or 7pm for dinner which is far later than I’ve become used to, and almost impossible to plan meals around with a toddler.

Anyone who says Spain is affordable is out of their mind. Barcelona is incredibly expensive and our budgets have been completely blown up. We barely go out to eat because of the meal times (and with two kids) but somehow our expenses are higher than they’ve ever been.

For the next few months, I won’t be traveling much and probably won’t have any cool photos or experiences to post here.

For the first time in almost a year, I made a withdrawal from my portfolio of $5,000. This was to pay for a push gift as well as renovations on our villa in Bali. My blog generates money every month to the tune of $5k or more and I cover exactly how I earn money from blogging in other posts.

Expenses for May 2026

In April, we temporarily re-located to Barcelona, Spain for a few months. Our villa in Bali is vacant during this time as we have some renovations taking place so we are not enjoying any rental income to offset expenses in Barcelona.

I’ve been to Barcelona a few times before but never more than a few days. We will stay here for the next 5 months or so. Barcelona is far more expensive than Bali in almost every aspect of life. Our expenses shot up significantly and we have to pay rent again. We are renting an apartment in the heart of Eixample and short term rental prices in Barcelona are a bit insane.

Food and dining out are quite expensive in Barcelona. The value for money is also weak. I findh Spanish food to be over-rated. Small portions, high carbs, low protein, and high prices means I’m generally always hungry and unsatisfied. I cannot wait to be back in Bali.

Gyms in Barcelona are cheaper than in Bali but offers little to none of the amenities. I miss my gym in Bali a lot but what can you do.

Living in Barcelona is incredibly expensive. We spent so much money and we didn’t even go out. With the meal times in Spain along with two young kids, it’s all but impossible to eat out with them. While we cooked almost every dinner, somehow expenses just ballooned.

Historically, I was accrual accounting our expenses but I’ve decided going forward I will cash account all our expenses which is much more realistic as far actual financial management goes. A lot of our expenses in Bali are paid for upfront for multiple months. Things like rent are paid upfront as well as the gym (discount for paying multiple months upfront).

In total, our expenses for the month are as follows:

Earnings for the month

While the portfolio is the main source of financial security, we still have income coming from other sources. After all, if you can make money doing something you love, why not?

In our case, we have income coming from my blog which I will detail the numbers in the next section. My partner works part time at a travel related company and also brings in income to help with the monthly expenses.

My May 2026 Blog Earnings

---

I always give a run down on my monthly blogging income on these monthly portfolio reports because this is about my blog after all. My blog generates quite a lot of money from many years of hard work that it is a huge supplement to my FIRE portfolio.

• Johnny Africa 2025 Blog earnings
• Johnny Africa 2024 Blog earnings
• Johnny Africa 2023 Blog earnings
• Johnny Africa 2022 Blog earnings

My full 2025 blog earnings report has finally been released via my post in the links above. I made a total of $75k from blogging in 2025 which was an absolute monstrous and record year.

I earn money from blogging primarily from ads and sponsorships. My ads are managed by Mediavine which I joined in May 2024. In addition to Mediavine advertisements, I also earn money from Affiliate programs, sponsorships, and travel planning. More details on these things in my how to make money blogging posts.

In May, my traffic numbers stayed consistent and my Mediavine RPMs increased as I earned above the $2k mark that I have been targeting. I’m debating moving from Mediavine to Raptive (another ad network) as they have been bombarding me with emails about how much who switch earn much higher RPMs. I don’t think it’s true but what do I have to lose?

My earnings from sponsorships increased significantly from April to May which was nice to see.

Here is a breakdown of my monthly earnings.