The U.S. faced one of its toughest weeks in recent history, with racial tensions manifesting in the form of nationwide protests, and the cannabis industry was not exempt. Dispensaries across the country were looted, and many companies decided to close their retail operations until further notice.
“It’s been a difficult week for our country and unfortunately for a lot of dispensaries that were looted in the wake of protests. While property can be repaired, the wounds of inequality will take much longer to fix,” said Debra Borchardt, CEO of Green Market Report. “Despite the costs of the damage most of the dispensary owners seemed sympathetic towards the situation and I found that heartening.”
Strangely enough, cannabis stocks thrived this week, with all major ETFs closing in the green. Over the five trading days of the week:
- The ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF (NYSE: MJ): gained 1.8%.
- The AdvisorShares Pure Cannabis ETF (NYSE: YOLO): rose 4.2%.
- The Cannabis ETF (NYSE: THCX): spiked 3%.
- The Amplify Seymour Cannabis ETF (NYSE: CNBS): advanced 3.4%.
- The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE: SPY) closed the period up 4.9%.
In Israel, scientists revealed they had found “residues of cannabinoids such as Δ9-teterahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabidiol (CBD) and cannabinol (CBN)” in an archeological site, interpreted to be altars from the eighth century.
Pharmaceutical company One World Pharma Inc. (OTC: OWPC) appointed Isiah Thomas as its CEO and vice chairman of the board of directors. The 12-time NBA All-Star player, who was featured at the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference last week, is replacing Craig Ellins, the company’s CEO and founder.
Aurora Cannabis Inc. (NYSE: ACB) (TSX: ACB) sold its stake in Alcanna Inc (OTC: LQSIF) to an underwriting syndicate led by Cormark Securities. The syndicate paid roughly CA$27.6 million ($20.55 million), substantially less than the CA$138 million Aurora spent in 2018.
Clever Leaves, a cannabis company with operations in Colombia, announced a merger with Schultze Special Purpose Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: SAMA). The transaction would allow Clever Leaves to effectively trade on the Nasdaq.
Benzinga held its first Virtual Cannabis Capital Conference, featuring a long list of high profile speakers including Isiah Thomas, John Salley, Al Harrington, Jefferies’ Owen Bennett, Cowen’s Vivian Azer, Piper Sandler’s Michael Lavery, Seymour Asset Management and CNBC’s Tim Seymour, Entourage Effect Capital’s Matt Hawkins, Altitude Investment Management’s Roderick Stephan, ARCADIAN Fund’s Matthew Nordgren, FocusGrowth Capital Partners’ John Lykouretzos, Casa Verde Capital’s Yoni Meyer and many more.
Check out everything that happened at benzinga.com/cannabis.
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