The Bengal Bite 🐯 | "Canna"nomics | January 29, 2021
Game, Stopped.
GameStop, a company that at one point appeared to have over 130% of its shares shorted, seems to have been involved in one of the largest short squeezes ever (a short summary of what happened from The Verge). One evidently orchestrated by individual, anonymous traders that inhabit the online forum, Reddit’s r/WallStreetBets. From under $20 per share to almost $350 in one month, and then back down to under $200 in one day, the GameStop roller coaster has become a mainstream story with something for everyone - retail investors vs. hedge funds, tech startups vs. regulation, establishment vs. millennials.
Over the coming weeks, the storyline of what actually happened will probably come together in longform New Yorker articles, congressional hearings, and filed lawsuits (a class action has already been filed in New York), to be followed by a Michael Lewis book in a year or two. But, for us, we wanted to quickly compare the short interest between large US MSOs, Canadian LPs, and WallStreetBet’s recent targets to give readers a sense of the scale involved.
This week's Bite:
AZ as it goes: Refreshingly, Arizona has avoided the delay that often comes with states’ implementing a new cannabis regime. (Marijuana Moment)
From sea to shining sea: 2020 saw huge sales growth in regulated cannabis markets and, with Kentucky, Kansas, Alabama, and South Carolina potentially poised to liberalize cannabis laws in 2021, there still remains secular growth ahead. (Marijuana Business Daily)
I'm sorry, but is this organic? Acquisitions are undoubtedly going to increase in 2021, but it remains to be seen how some MSOs will leverage their positive cash flow to organically grow to dominate existing markets. (Cannabis Industry Journal)
Ice Cream v. Pizza: No, not a food debate endlessly litigated by children and cannabis enthusiasts, but a view on how to efficiently run a cannabis delivery business from Brian Geddes at I Heart Jane, a major cannabis e-commerce platform in California. (Brian @ Jane)
West Coast v. East Coast: In a return to hip hop battles from the past, some believe that the East Coast, rather than the West Coast, is where cannabis major brands will be born and thrive. (Rolling Stone)