The seed of dependency on cheap Russian gas was planted when Chancellor Gerard Schroder was in power in mid 1990. Germany funded the pipeline construction throughout much of Europe in exchange for cheap gas supply.
https://nytimes.com/2022/04/23/world/europe/schroder-germany-russia-gas-ukraine-war-energy.html
It is a real mess especially when Germany is the manufacturing powerhouse in Europe. Solar and wind power account for 40% of electricity. Industrial production needs a lot more and there are few viable options. Natural gas required to be shipped in liquified form in ships.

It is interest to read about BlueRock funds since private assets are not so readily accessible for small investors. This is an internal fund and has rather limited to advisors. Seem to me that is more suitable for institutional investors including college endowment and pension plans.
@JD_co is correct that you can purchase the fund directly from BlueRock if you choose to do so.
In addition to the management fee (1.5%), there are several other fees that amount to about 1.8-2.5%. A and L shares carry 4.25 and 5.75% front-end load, respectively, and they are likely to be use via an advisor.

@Crash, yes, Stock Rover is not user-friendly or intuitive. There are many features with options that appear only on relevant pages, so a steep learning curve. I am still exploring/learning during the 14-day, no-obligation, free trial for its top of the line Premium Plus. I may post pointers in a few days.
For now, to add/upload/Import portfolios, Click Portfolio on the left-menu, make sure that Portfolio heading is clicked/highlighted on the main page (Down-arrow will show full menu), then there is Create Portfolio in the right-panel. Entries can be made there manually OR portfolio uploaded/Imported from Excel (with Tickers, quantities, costs columns) OR via connections to selected brokerages (I won't be trying that).

21 July, '22: I'm finally enjoying the ride with Bar Harbor Bankshares. BHB. Back up over cost basis. Yahoo notes a "megaphone bottom." Dunno what that means, but I do see it is a bullish signal. But we'll see what happens after the expected rate hike coming up. ET is faltering. I suppose it's a good time to buy. RGR is rising lately. I'm paying more attention to single stocks these days, and my lone bond fund (junk) TUHYX. But this is a bear market rally, anyhow. Keep the Big Picture in mind.

Added one smallcap
NVTA ( MAYBE 10 in 2 3 yrs)
+more TSLA
Added slv copx - leaps covercalled both

Gas is turned back on at a reduced level.
https://bbc.com/news/world-europe-62249015
In the article it shows the wide distribution of Russian gas to the European continent. Russia wants to get paid in Rubles instead of Euro in order to keep their banks running.

Thanks @dstone42 for commenting.
I’ve tracked ARKK quite a while and have observed that it moves up or down by 5-10% in a single day quite often. Same goes for one of its holdings, DKNG, which I’ve owned in the past. And 15-20% moves over 4 week stints have been common of late. These “innovative” stocks are incredible volatile.
Any accolades are undeserved. No joy in capturing a bit of upside. Just got to a point where my cash / income sleeve had gotten uncomfortably low. Seemed like a good time to reign in risk a bit. Good point on buying and selling mutual funds late in the day, particularly those invested in the more volatile stocks.

For the week ending on 7/20/22, Sentiment remained very negative (despite improvement): Bearish remained the top sentiment (42.2%; very high) & neutral became the bottom sentiment (28.2%; below average); bullish became the middle sentiment (29.6%; low); Bull-Bear Spread was -12.6% (low; recent bottom 6/23/22). Investor concerns included recession; inflation & supply-chain disruptions (including natural gas supplies to Europe that did resume via Nord Stream 1 on Thursday Morning); the Fed/FOMC (next week); market volatility (VIX, VXN, MOVE); Russia-Ukraine war (21+ weeks); geopolitical (UK, Italy, Sri Lanka, etc). For the Survey week (Thursday-Wednesday), stocks were up sharply, bonds flat-down, oil up sharply, gold down sharply, dollar down. #AAII #Sentiment #Markets
https://ybbpersonalfinance.proboards.com/thread/141/aaii-sentiment-survey-weekly?page=6&scrollTo=708

@ Hank Way to play the Cathie Wood spinning wheel -- up 8-10% in a short time!
You put your finger on part of the appeal of an ETF -- the ability to buy and sell throughout the day. You saw that ARKK was up about 6% and you could sell immediately and capture that. As it happened today, ARKK only dropped a little by the end of the day (which would have determined your selling price if it had been a mutual fund). But we've recently seen many days where the behavior in the morning gave no clue about the behavior at the close of the day.
So if you are considering buying or selling a mutual fund, it's probably best to wait until the end of the trading day to make your final decision. It's just the nature of the beast.
David

After a promising initial month, this early-2021 IPO went downhill as the SPAC craze cooled off. "Active" ETF SPXZ had 33% in pre-merger SPACs and 67% in post-merger/IPO companies. Its invested AUM remained tiny.

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1683471/000089418922004928/morgancreekliftliquidation.htm
497 1 morgancreekliftliquidation.htm MORGAN CREEK 497
Filed pursuant to Rule 497(e)
Registration Nos. 333-215588; 811-23226
Morgan Creek - Exos SPAC Originated ETF (SPXZ)
a series of Listed Funds Trust (the “Trust”)
Supplement dated July 20, 2022
to the Summary Prospectus, Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information
dated April 30, 2022
After careful consideration, and at the recommendation of Morgan Creek Capital Management, LLC, the investment adviser to the Morgan Creek - Exos SPAC Originated ETF (the “Fund”), the Board of Trustees of Listed Funds Trust approved the closing and subsequent liquidation of the Fund pursuant to the terms of a Plan of Liquidation. Accordingly, the Fund is expected to cease operations, liquidate its assets, and distribute the liquidation proceeds to shareholders of record on or about August 18, 2022 (the “Liquidation Date”). Shares of the Fund are listed on the NYSE Arca, Inc.
Beginning on or about July 21, 2022 and continuing through the Liquidation Date, the Fund will liquidate its portfolio assets. As a result, during this period, the Fund will increase its cash holdings and deviate from its investment objective, investment strategies, and investment policies as stated in the Fund’s Prospectus and SAI.
The Fund will no longer accept orders for new creation units after the close of business on the business day prior to the Liquidation Date, and trading in shares of the Fund will be halted prior to market open on the Liquidation Date. Prior to the Liquidation Date, shareholders may only be able to sell their shares to certain broker-dealers, and there is no assurance that there will be a market for the Fund’s shares during that time period. Customary brokerage charges may apply to such transactions.
If no action is taken by a Fund shareholder prior to the Liquidation Date, the Fund will distribute to such shareholder, on or promptly after the Liquidation Date, a liquidating cash distribution equal to the net asset value of the shareholder’s Fund shares as of the close of business on the Liquidation Date. This amount will include any accrued capital gains and dividends. Shareholders remaining in the Fund on the Liquidation Date will not be charged any transaction fees by the Fund. The liquidating cash distribution to shareholders will be treated as payment in exchange for their shares. The liquidation of your shares may be treated as a taxable event. Shareholders should contact their tax adviser to discuss the income tax consequences of the liquidation.
Shareholders can call 1-855-857-2677 for additional information.
Please retain this Supplement with your Summary Prospectus,
Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information for reference.

SPY 300 looking more wishful thinking.
https://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=SPY&p=D&b=5&g=0&id=p61200726936

Yes I do bet on the Bills @Derf. I usually do a straight up bet with a Dolphins fan (that's been the easy one), a "who has the most wins in a season" bet with a Rhinelander Wis. born and raised Packers fan (go Hodags!) and a Bills over-under total wins bet with another friend. We haven't set the over-under yet but looks like it will set at 12 1/2 wins.

I second the above from MikeM. As along time holder of RPHIX, since Dr. Snowball first reviewed it here on MFO and a more recent owner of CBLDX, David you truly have managed to be an ace in the past year with both funds in the 1st quartile as assigned by M*. RPHIX has had a positive YTD which is remarkable for the past 7 months. CBLDX has had minor loss in the 1-2 2% range which is a heap better than all of my other fixed income funds. That is why I have entrusted you with a multiple of 6 figures. Except for 1 minor dip a few years back in RPHIX you have managed to ascertain the " Money Good " opportunities with success and have reliably done well by your investors. We also have a large portion of "Dry Powder" as you do and being conservative when appropriate is a winning proposition. Thanks Again. Fundly

Lightening up. :)
Sold the small ARKK holding purchased just 2 or 3 weeks ago at a 8-10%% gain. Up near 6% this morning. Added to Cash and BAMBX. Wanted to raise some dry power following recent market uptick. Selling Cathie’s fund won out over selling TCHP purchased about the same time. Tough choice. I like them both at these levels. In terms of positioning, ARKK occupied a seat in the “Speculative” sleeve whereas TCHP is in the more stable “Growth” sleeve.
@MikwW - My allocation isn’t easy to explain to others. I won’t even try except to say it’s a complex mix of about 15 funds and 5 stocks. Major areas are: Growth - currently 26%, Income - currently 20%, Alternatives - about 45% and the remainder - about 9% in a Spec Sleeve. Making it really confusing is that the Alternative sleeve contains about 30% in 3 stocks. (Go figure) The remaining 70% of the Alt sleeve is in 4 more traditional Alt funds. The small Spec sleeve has about 60% in a couple inverse funds that move opposite the markets. The remainder is in a precious metals (not mining) fund. About as much as I care to share. Like I said, it’s a confusing mishmash that I don’t think would serve as a good model for anyone else. If I had to guess at the % in equities, I’d guess maybe 40-45% give or take, depending on what the 4 alternative funds contain.
PS - A member recently posted an image of a “Rube Goldberg” invention and it closely resembled my allocation model. :)

Howard Marks specializes in distressed debt ala junk bonds, bank loans, etc. Over the past several months I have continually read about how junk bonds offer value from various pundits. All the while it is one new low after another for junk bonds. So much so that the first half decline of 14% was the worst first half decline ever for the junk bond market.
What is particularly ominous is how detached junk bonds have been from equities and Treasuries. Meaning while equities had a vicious bounce a few weeks ago, junk and bank loans just kept making new lows. While Treasuries are having a nice recovery presently still new lows in the risk on credits aka junk and and bank loans. Below is a link to Morgan Stanley’s outlook for junk. Sounds much more objective and reasoned than much of what I have read recently
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/morgan-stanley-recession-arrives-will-we-see-surge-corporate-defaults
Edit: Obviously as with Treasuries recently, these markets can turn on a dime. And junk bonds are notorious for strong recoveries after bear declines. Coming off the 2008 bear market in
2009 junk had the greatest credit rally of all time rising over 50%.
Edit: Today’s action in junk bonds so far at least so far not as negative as it may appear. Although down, the junk ETFs are still trading well above Friday’s NAV meaning the open end may be up today.

Probably much ado about nothing but have a 7% position in VWEHX and hoping to increase as 7% barely moves the needle. Liked how on Tuesday intraday with the Dow down 600 points the cash junk market was up. First time in many a moon I had seen that type of intraday divergence. Junk had a decent week but 2022 has been a year of fake out rallies so buyer beware.

Funny how the intraday action of one day can set the tone for the weeks to come. Junk has been on a roll and on some days (like on July 5) regardless of negative action in stocks or bonds. We are coming off historic lows in default rates for junk bonds. So unless we are going to get the mother of all recessions with soaring default rates, junk offers a lot of value after its first half decline of 14%. Especially the junkiest of junk the CCC category. Bank loan/floating rate funds too are looking good. My 7% allotment there is now at 28% and increasing (and another 15% in floating rate) and in hindsight wish I had been far more aggressive. But then who knows, maybe yet again just another failed rally. Some pundits out there are saying based on the price action of last Friday and yesterday the stock market bear market is dead and over. We shall see.

AL JAZEERA: 20 July, 2022:
Ukraine intends to postpone repayment of its Eurobonds and payments of interest on them for 24 months from August 1, according to a government resolution.
The government instructed the finance ministry to hold negotiations with creditors on deferring payments by August 15 and promised additional interest on postponed payments.
It also plans to postpone payment on the GDP-linked warrants to August 2024 from May 2023.

From their website, https://www.crossingbridgefunds.com/
CrossingBridge Advisors, LLC (“CrossingBridge”) was founded in December 2016 and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cohanzick Management, LLC (“Cohanzick”), which was founded in 1996 by David Sherman. As of June 30, 2022, the assets under management for CrossingBridge and affiliates were in excess of $2.76 billion

Been doing a lot of shopping lately.
Last March I sold out my wife's inheritance, which was mostly in a regional utility. She has hopes of buying a small house in a location cooler than Arizona. So we decided to invest 25% of her funds.
Her priorities were dividends and green investing as her "speculative" bet. And then some assets set aside to grow, i.e S&P 500, tech, and med tech. So this is what we agreed to:
The following is copied from the rough notes I have in a spread sheet. Good thing I'm not being graded for formatting.
20.00% Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF™ SCHD
10.00% VictoryShares US SmCp Hi Div Vol Wtd ETF CSB
8.00% Fidelity® Select Medical Tech and Devcs FSMEX
8.00% Fidelity® 500 Index FXAIX
5.00% Cambria Foreign Shareholder Yield ETF FYLD
5.00% GLFOX Lazard Global Infrastructure
5.00% WisdomTree Intl Hdgd Qual Div Gr ETF IHDG
5.00% SPDR® Russell 1000® Yield Focus ETF ONEY
5.00% Invesco High Yield Eq Div Achiev™ ETF PEY
5.00% Principal Real Estate Securities Inst PIREX
5.00% Invesco S&P 500® Eql Wt Cnsm Stapl ETF RHS
5.00% Invesco S&P 500® Equal Weight Utilts ETF RYU
2.00% FSCSX
2.00% TDV tech dividend
2.00% Columbia Seligman Global TECH
2.00% FTEC tech index
1.00% TAN Solar
1.00% First Trust Water ETF
1.00% First Trust NASDAQ® Cln Edge®Offsetting
1.00% iShares Global Clean Energy ETF
1.00% Invesco Global Clean Energy ETF
1.00% Invesco Global Water ETF
As you can see, I bought baskets to represent tech and "green." I see enough moving parts in those fields that I wanted to encompass a variety of theses. For the alt energy funds I specifically avoided those with large stakes in Tesla. And also avoided China as well as I could.
I have also been buying into beaten down funds in our IRA's, and my taxable account, whittling down our cash holdings. I tarried too long during the COVID debacle, so wanted to make a more muscular entry. Still plenty of cash for cushion, and for buying, if the autumn inflation and elections push markets another leg down; which would not surprise me in the least.