Analyst rains on pot stock parade

Positive headlines helped boost Canadian pot stocks this week, after cannabis companies disappointed investors with a slew of disappointing financial results earlier this month. But one analyst is warning the pop might be short-lived. “Some may see the upside and think the sector may have bottomed out. We don’t think so,” equity analyst Owen Bennett of Jefferies LLC wrote in an analyst note Thursday. He said the rally was largely driven by a short squeeze spurred by two developments: A U.S. House panel passing a bill to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level; and Ontario considering an overhaul of how it grants pot retail licenses, as first reported by BNN Bloomberg. Bennett said the near-term impact of these events will be minimal as the U.S. pot bill is unlikely to become law and the pick-up in new Ontario pot shops won’t happen until the back end of 2020, at the earliest. Pot stocks already started to pare some of their gains Friday.           

Cannabis sales fall in September

Cannabis sales fell 2.4 per cent in September, according to data released by Statistics Canada Friday, marking the first monthly decline since February. Pot shops in the country sold $123 million worth of marijuana in the month compared to $126 million in August.

Supreme Cannabis announces new COO

John Griese was named the new chief operating officer of The Supreme Cannabis Company, Inc. on Friday. The Toronto-based company said Griese, who has over 30 years of experience in the consumer packaged goods industry, will be responsible for “driving continuous improvements across all operating assets and leading supply chain management for Supreme Cannabis' diverse portfolio of products.”

CVA responds to vaping disease study

The Canadian Vaping Association is responding to a new vaping-related illness published by Canadian Medical Association this week, arguing substances such as THC have been wrongly included into the definition of vaping. The CVA warns the generalization of the terms "vaping" or "e-cigarettes" is misleading and is urging caution around the conclusions stated in the study, which is based on one case.

Daily Buzz

811,000 

The number of Canadians experimenting with recreational or illegal cannabis products for their health without a doctor's note or prescription, according to Statistics Canada.

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