This Week in Cannabis Investing December 20th

Last week was a big week in the world of cannabis investing. We promised you another big week this week – and we delivered.

Without further ado…

Monday, we began the week by shining the spotlight on something that some investors may have thought didn’t exist: Marijuana Stock Winners for 2019. These aren’t just companies that made gains at some point of the year (and then lost them).

These are companies that recorded large gains in share price during the year. And even with the severe sell-off in the latter half of the year, they are set to close the year in positive territory.

We’re not talking obscure micro-caps here. We identified six cannabis companies strongly followed by investors (three in the U.S., three in Canada) that are up in 2019: Curaleaf Holdings (CAN:CURA / US:CURLF), Trulieve Cannabis (CAN:TRUL / US:TCNNF), Planet 13 Holdings (CAN:PLTH / US:PLNHF), Village Farms International (US:VFF / CAN:VFF), MediPharm Labs (CAN:LABS / US:MEDIF), and The Valens Company (CAN:VLNS / US:VGWCF).

Readers wanting the precise numbers for those winners can find that here.

We followed that up with some important news. Hot on the heels of Major League Baseball dropping cannabis as a “banned substance”, some very influential voices from the NFL are saying to expect changes (soon) in their cannabis rules too.

Tuesday, there was (surprise! surprise!) more good news from Colorado’s cannabis industry. The state is on track to set a record for cannabis sales for the 5th straight year, ready to clear last year’s record by a comfortable margin.

Wednesday, we went from looking at the best U.S. state (for legal cannabis) back to the worst: California. And (surprise! surprise!) as bad as the cannabis laws and regulations are in California, the state is contemplating ways to make things even worse.

Thursday, we gave The Seed Investor audience plenty to digest. First, we published our interview with Terry Donnelly. He’s the CEO of Hill Street Beverage Company (CAN:BEER / US:HSEEF). He’s also Co-Founder of the Cannabis Beverage Producers Alliance in Canada. Donnelly took the time to provide us with an in-depth look at the picture for cannabis-infused beverages in Canada.

On the downside, volume and carry limits for these products will be a burden for both beverage producers and consumers. More positively, Donnelly revealed that these beverages are expected to be price-competitive with alcohol products.

In comparison, U.S. cannabis-infused beverages retail for much higher prices. This may explain (to date) why these products have developed such a limited market share in U.S. legal cannabis markets.

Then we had an important exposé for our audience. It’s common knowledge among the People that the U.S. federal government is completely out of touch with reality when it comes to cannabis legalization. Now we’re hearing the same thing from someone inside Congress – a Kentucky Republican, no less (no, it was not Mitch McConnell).

We zeroed in on this cannabis truth-telling, likening it to a real-life version of The Emperor’s New Clothes.

Friday, we closed out the week with important news from both sides of the U.S./Canada border. South of the Border, Curaleaf reported a major cash infusion – US$275 million in pure debt financing. That will fund a lot of growth.

North of the Border, consolidation has begun within the province of Ontario with respect to cannabis store licenses. The one-year holding period for original licensees has now expired.

Some of these stores already have agreements in place to transfer these licenses. Others will be sold to the highest bidder. For Canadian cannabis companies (and cannabis investors) opportunity knocks.

In the last week before Christmas, the news flow hasn’t even begun to slow down for the cannabis industry. Probably that will change quickly next week. But with the cannabis industry, you never know.

At the least, readers can look forward to our 2019 Cannabis Review.