Our share tips suffered their biggest relapse in more than six months last week as the stock market digested further poor news on the global economy.

The general retreat saw the total value of our four portfolios drop by more than £550 to £46,793 when we conducted our review of progress on Wednesday morning, a slippage of 0.85%. That is a good deal better than the 4.4% drop in the FTSE 100 share index over the same period, although we recognise that is little comfort to our followers.

Much of the damage was caused by a handful of poor performers, with several now in danger of triggering "sell" signals. Longstanding recommendations Smiths Industries and B&Q retailer Kingfisher look particularly vulnerable. New Year tip Smart Metering Systems could also be in line for an early exit after an encouraging start.

Nearly all of our tips recorded some sort of fall last week with only Optos, Dunelm and Fuller Smith & Turner escaping the sell-off, which came as a result of poor economic news from the US and China and currency jitters in emerging markets.

The 2012 portfolio was the biggest casualty with a hefty 3.9% fall over the week, with jeweller Signet falling back into losses after its recent good run and Stagecoach on the retreat.

The 2013 tips shed 2.6% of their value while the 2011 portfolio was down 1.7% despite the protection offered by its large cash reserves. Our New Year recommendations saw a 1.5% slippage.