This week didn’t contain the same level of blockbuster news that has been keeping cannabis investors on their toes in recent weeks. At the same time, The Seed Investor still found no shortage of topics to cover that are shaping the cannabis industry and opening up cannabis markets.
Monday, The Seed Investor took a closer look at an interesting news item out of California. A real estate company looking to sell a $3+ million home in L.A.’s luxury real estate market held a “cannabis open house” to entertain potential buyers.
A wide assortment of (safe and healthy) cannabis products were made available to guests. The article pointed to this as “just the beginning of the crossover between cannabis and luxury real estate”. We noted that this is just the beginning of introducing cannabis into business events that have some social component.
Tuesday, there was a significant acquisition by Canadian cannabis retailer, Choom Holdings (CAN:CHOO / US:CHOOF). Choom added four new cannabis stores to its already significant retail footprint in Alberta while also adding three stores in British Columbia. B.C. is one of Canada’s largest cannabis markets that is now catching up to other provinces in launching new retail stores.
The Seed Investor covered cannabis-infused beverages again. This time, our angle was in explaining the technology behind the products in greater detail. With a next generation of cannabis-infusion technology, we concluded that this is technology that “has arrived”.
Wednesday, The Seed Investor released a feature article on “8 top value opportunities” in North American cannabis stocks – four from the U.S. and four from Canada. This is a follow-up article to the piece we released the previous week pointing to the “stupid-cheap” valuations of cannabis stocks despite many strong fundamental drivers at present. We offered eight suggestions on where investors could take advantage of the great value across the cannabis sector.
We then went beneath the surface in looking in new cannabis consumer data out of Colorado. The data seemed to show a very strong move away from medicinal cannabis and toward recreational consumption. The Seed Investor explained how these new numbers didn’t imply that medicinal cannabis was losing its popularity. Rather, consumers were also looking to recreational cannabis sources for products to address their medicinal needs.
Thursday, Choom Holdings followed up its earlier acquisition with news that it is opening up another licensed cannabis store in Alberta. Combined with its earlier news, this increases Choom’s total cannabis retail footprint in Alberta by more than 50%.
At the same time, The Seed Investor pointed to the serious need in Canada for better, more industry-friendly regulations for CBD commerce. This is much like what has been said by the U.S. cannabis industry with respect to FDA and CBD. What is different here is that the lobbying is coming from the Canadian natural health products industry – which is eager for broader access to distribute such products.
We then looked at some incredibly innovative applications for industry hemp: the world’s first all-hemp airplane. Built from hemp, outfitted with hemp, powered by hemp biofuel. Not a gimmick. The hemp fiber used to make the fuselage is ten times stronger than steel while also lighter than traditional aircraft building materials.
Finally, The Seed Investor reported on a highly successful and imaginative consumer promotion for cannabis: cashing in on North American “pride” within the gay community. PLUS Products (CAN: PLUS / US:PLPRF) is the California company that came up with the idea and its Rainbow Sorbet Gummies were a big seller.
Friday, The Seed Investor tackled a serious problem for the cannabis sector, Why Big Pharma Hates Cannabis. We looked at the history and explained to investors the particular reasons why multinational pharmaceutical companies are not eager to embrace cannabis as medicine – despite its enormous potential.
We then criticized NASA. The U.S. space agency has sent a person to the Moon. But its greatest minds still seem clueless when it comes to the cannabis plant. The Seed Investor noted the irrational anti-cannabis phobias that remain within U.S. federal agencies.
We ended the week reporting on conditional approval of a TSX-listing for Organigram Holdings (US:OGI / CAN:OGI). This builds on this Canadian-based company’s NASDAQ listing while Organigram continues to push forward aggressively in its operations.
In many respects, this week epitomizes the cannabis industry. Obstacles to cannabis commerce continue to exist. But cannabis companies continue to devise new cannabis markets, new cannabis products, and new ways to market the cannabis industry. These publicly listed companies continue to rapidly advance their operations even as cannabis valuations fly under the radar of most investors.
DISCLOSURE: Choom Holdings is a client of The Seed Investor
This Week in Cannabis Investing August 9th
