from the I'm-not-afraid!-You-will-be!!! dept.
From the fine pages of the New York Post, such as they are:
Shares of Peter Thiel-backed marijuana grower Tilray soared as much as 94 percent on Wednesday, briefly hitting a market value of $28 billion, as bullish comments from the company's chief executive stoked Wall Street's growing euphoria over marijuana stocks.
But late in the afternoon, the shares crashed, falling briefly into negative territory before spiking in the final minutes to close the day at $214.06, up 38 percent. Traders blamed the wild ride, marked by at least four halts for volatility, on a short squeeze as pot-addled investors tried to get their heads around the budding business of legalized weed.
Despite the bumpy day, shares of the Canada-based pot farmer — which are up 10-fold from their debut on the Nasdaq in July — closed with a market capitalization of $19.93 billion, bigger than Expedia, Dish Networks and Mylan. Twitter, which briefly got eclipsed by Tilray, closed Wednesday with a market cap of $22.3 billion.
Thiel, the libertarian tech tycoon who backed Donald Trump in 2016, is rolling in the green thanks to Tilray's runup. Pot-focused private equity fund Privateer Holdings, in which Thiel is a big investor, owns 76 percent of Tilray's stock — making the fund's stake worth roughly $15 billion.
Wow, better than a Tesla pump-and-dump, no doubt due to the mimetic transfusion of young non-gay blood!
See also: Investing in cannabis is 'a great hedge' for alcohol and drug companies, CEO of medical marijuana producer Tilray says
Canadian cannabis producer Tilray had a wild day after its CEO appeared on Cramer's 'Mad Money' (TLRY)
It's Time for a Reality Check About Tilray
Weed is the new blockchain
Tilray Is Partying Like It's 1999 (and It Won't End Well)
Pot-focused investment fund backed by Peter Thiel gets a boost from its big stake in Tilray
Related Stories
Why is Canada running out of marijuana?
Cannabis retailers in Canada began to run low on supplies from the very first day of legalisation a month ago. How long are shortages expected to continue as the new market for recreational cannabis finds its feet?
In the early days of legalisation, James Burns was confident his company had enough product on the shelves of its five new cannabis retail stores, even though they only received half of their order from the provincial supplier. Now, he has had staff refreshing the government supply website in the early hours to snap up scarce new stock as soon as it's available, and is considering restricting store hours.
"While there was product to order we were very comfortably getting a large amount of it," says Burns, the CEO of Alcanna, a company that owns a chain of private liquor stores in Canada and the US and, now, cannabis stores in the province of Alberta. "But obviously, when there's literally none there, it doesn't matter how big you are, there's just none there. If the government warehouse is empty, it's empty. There's nothing you can do."
[...] A report released in early October by the CD Howe Institute, a Toronto-based economic think tank, estimates that the current legal supply will meet about 30% to 60% of total demand in the first months of legalisation. But people in the industry say the scarcity is worse than expected. "Everybody knew this was going to happen," says Burns. "Probably, frankly, not this quick and this starkly."
Patrick Wallace, owner of Waldo 420 in Medicine Hat, Alberta, predicts it will be a year to 18 months before supply matches demand. "We're riding on our initial investment of stock from a few weeks back," he says. "So we're OK now but it's not sustainable."
Previously: Canada Becomes the Second Nation to Legalize Cannabis
Peter Thiel's Cannabis Company Was Briefly Worth More Than Twitter
Hostage to NAFTA? Canada Signs on to War on Drugs Despite Recent Cannabis Legalization
Cannabis Becomes Legal in Canada
Marlboro owner Altria invests $1.8 billion in cannabis company Cronos
Altria hopes pot is the key to help it grow beyond its stagnant cigarette business. Tobacco giant Altira is investing $1.8 billion in Canadian cannabis company Cronos Group. That will give Altria a 45% stake in the company, with an option for Altria to increase its stake to 55% over the next five years. Reports of an Altria-Cronos deal first surfaced earlier this week. The decision by Altria to go ahead with an investment in Cronos shows that Altria is serious about investing in marijuana as a new growth area as sales of traditional cigarettes slow. Altria's stock has fallen nearly 25% this year and the company is expected to report revenue growth of only about 1% this year and in 2019.
[...] Cronos and other cannabis stocks have been thrust into the spotlight in the past few months following the legalization of recreational marijuana in Canada in October, as well as legalized recreational and medical pot in several US states last month. With Democrats winning control of the US House, Congress may finally pass the Farm Bill, which would make it legal to produce hemp and potentially open the door for more products containing cannabidiol, or CBD. Many alcoholic beverage, tobacco and other consumer products companies may want to bet on cannabis. Canadian marijuana company Canopy Growth (CGC) already has received a multibillion dollar investment from Corona owner Constellation Brands (STZ). Coca-Cola (KO) was rumored to be considering an investment in Canadian cannabis company Aurora (ACB). [...] Coke's archrival Pepsi (PEP) hasn't completely ruled out a move into cannabis.
Altria's Canadian Pot Bet Is Really About the U.S.
It's official: Big Tobacco is now a player in the cannabis market. That will change the game.
Previously: Another Major Beermaker is Looking at Ways to Enter the Cannabis Business
Coca-Cola Is Eyeing the Cannabis Market
Peter Thiel's Cannabis Company Was Briefly Worth More Than Twitter
Cannabis Becomes Legal in Canada
Recreational cannabis is now legal in Canada... to a point. Here are some ground rules:
Adults of at least 18 years old will be allowed to carry and share up to 30 grams of legal marijuana in public, according to a bill that passed the Senate in June. They will also be allowed to cultivate up to four plants in their households and make products such as edibles for personal use.
[...] The supply of recreational marijuana could be limited, at least early on, in some stores. Officials in Nova Scotia and Manitoba said they won't have a large selection, at least not on the first day, CNN affiliate CBC News reported. [...] Marijuana will not be sold in the same location as alcohol or tobacco. Consumers are expected to purchase the drug from retailers regulated by provinces and territories or from federally licensed producers when those options are not available.
[...] Authorities will soon announce plans to pardon Canadians who have been convicted with possession of 30 grams or less of marijuana, CNN partner CTV reported. The production, distribution or sale of cannabis products will still be an offense for minors.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 21 2018, @07:49AM (11 children)
Legalizing plants is one thing. Hey, they seem like nice landscaping plants.
Lifestyle marketing is another thing. Just like how tobacco companies segment the market to separately prey upon women (Virginia Slims) and blacks (Newport), and all the same sort of stuff with alcohol, we'll see the full evil of marketing on display. If you don't smoke pot, you won't be sophisticated or you won't be sexy or whatever. This really really sucks.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by bobthecimmerian on Friday September 21 2018, @11:11AM (5 children)
I share your concern, but I think it should all be legalized, regulated, and taxed. Marijuana, cocaine, amphetamines, heroin, LSD, everything. Marketing all this terrible stuff as good is undesirable. But what's worse is all the additional criminal activity that supports the illegal substance market. Half the reason people from Mexico and Columbia and wherever else are desperate to enter the US goes away if the warlords have no billion dollar revenue stream to support their criminal empires. What's also worse than today is that people who need help can't get it because their addiction is illegal - if we used the tax revenue on drug sales to support free rehab, that would help some. Not many, but some.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 21 2018, @11:21AM (4 children)
>LSD ... terrible stuff
Don't drink the kool-aid. Or do?
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 21 2018, @07:17PM (2 children)
If you think 'Don't drink the koolaid' had anything to do with LSD then you need to learn some history. Start with the Jonestown massacre.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 21 2018, @07:52PM
You misinterpreted my comment.
(Score: 2) by Pslytely Psycho on Friday September 21 2018, @11:36PM
You must be young to not get the reference.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Electric_Kool-Aid_Acid_Test [wikipedia.org]
Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.
(Score: 2) by bobthecimmerian on Tuesday September 25 2018, @05:07PM
I can eat a cookie or watch Barney & Friends on television before driving or working and it's exceedingly unlikely the cookie or the bad television show will harm my performance. LSD for recreation is awesome, but if I take it before driving or working I might do something dangerous.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday September 21 2018, @11:44AM (4 children)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 21 2018, @12:46PM (3 children)
Why do you think that? I mean it's pretty different to buy maryjane from your buddy's friend in some back alley than to see an ad for it on the front page of a news paper and to buy it in a supermarket. I think it will reach a whole new audience. And some of the old audience will quit it too as it becomes mainstream.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday September 21 2018, @12:49PM (2 children)
Just like it is to buy cigarettes and booze? It's all chasing after the same money.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Friday September 21 2018, @06:20PM (1 child)
There's a reason most of Europe prohibits advertising of medications, alcohol and tobacco (and by extension, pot).
It drives me nuts that every 5 minutes during any US sports broadcast (or two minutes for football), kids are reminded that cool happy people drink $alcoholic_juice and/or caffeine-laden gateway juice.
(Score: 2) by dry on Saturday September 22 2018, @04:22AM
Canada is much the same for advertising medications, alcohol and tobacco and I'm sure pot when it becomes legal next month.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 21 2018, @08:33AM (5 children)
> no doubt due to the mimetic transfusion of young non-gay blood
So I know of the trashy "Thiel is a vampire" attacks, but what's with the "non-gay"?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 21 2018, @08:54AM
Not sure myself, but maybe it is that gay blood is attracted to the same blood, and so promotes clotting, or to put it differently, the blood would tend to hulk up and hogan to sue a new publication until it was dead. Like that. Alternatively, maybe it is just that you want virgin blood, and everyone is hetero until they are not, if you know what I mean. Then you only have to worry about parental STDs.
(Score: 0, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 21 2018, @03:42PM (3 children)
Yeah, that comment was completely inappropriate and out-of-place. If Soylent wants good discussions they need to not have troll comments in the submissions. Editors: Get rid of that garbage.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 21 2018, @06:39PM (2 children)
On the other hand, often it is useful to know about the other investments of someone behind a stock bubble.
And if one of those other investments is injecting himself with young blood [vanityfair.com], or bankrolling a vendetta against a news organization [nytimes.com], these are things investors should be aware of before following his lead. And then there is being a "Trump advisor", caveat investor!
(Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday September 22 2018, @01:46AM
Depends whether they think those activities are investments or not. Doesn't sound like Thiel does, but perhaps I'm wrong.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 26 2018, @10:11AM
A """news""" organizations that outed him as gay while he was in a majority Muslim country.
What a terrible person.
I still don't understand why non-gay blood was used in the summary. To pass him as a homophobe? Could anything be more inaccurate in this case?
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 21 2018, @08:51AM (4 children)
Pot is the new crypo-coins. So everyone is now into pot. Chasing money. And more money has been spent chasing profits than for any other reason in history. So no, I would not invest in any pot stock, since all it is is massive speculation and no profits. Might as well invest in "blockchained cloud pot" or something with more bingo points.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Friday September 21 2018, @09:22AM
Weed is the new blockchain [yahoo.com]
One of the headlines I forgot to toss in TFS.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 21 2018, @09:27AM (1 child)
Before it was Schedule 1'd, Marijuana was a common weed, sometimes under the nom de weed of "pigweed". Much like fireweed and some other opportunists, it would grow like crazy all on its own in any disturbed patch of soil (thus the name, where pigs do root, pot will grow). So the idea that somehow companies are going to make money off of this weed without the artificial scarcity of a legal ban and the black market conditions that go with that, and of course the gangs, drive-bys, turf-wars, mass incarceration of non-Republicans, is quite insane. It is almost as if the investors were smoking something. And we all know the First Rule of Dealing Drugs!
(Score: 2) by zocalo on Friday September 21 2018, @10:45AM
UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Friday September 21 2018, @05:56PM
Pot is the new crypo-coins. ... So no, I would not invest in any pot stock, since all it is is massive speculation and no profits.
Colorado Sold Over $1.5 Billion of Legal Marijuana in 2017 [westword.com]
One of these things is not like the other...
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Friday September 21 2018, @09:10AM (2 children)
Not saying much, as twitter is worth nothing.
Yes, people buy and sell pieces of these companies, in the hope they increase in value (or, sometimes, pay a dividend)
But the actual thing is worth... nothing.
/nihilism
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 21 2018, @04:02PM
User name checks out.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday September 21 2018, @04:07PM
Worse than that. A stock buy-back from a pot company could at least be taken out in trade since they have an actual, physical product. Personally, I'd take a quarter bag over Twitter's continued existence and I don't even like the smell of pot.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 21 2018, @12:44PM
Can we get some of that cash over here in Michigan to support Proposal 1? The disinformation campaign has the finest bullshit, lies, damned lies, and statistics money can buy plastered all over town.
I am fully expecting Proposal 1 to fail. There was a poll of 600 someodd people in the Detroit area that's likely driving complacency here. The west side of the state is very, very different from the east side.
Afterwards, how about we buy off enough congress critters so that it can be removed from Schedule I?
(...now, how anybody can support Donald Trump and continue to call themselves a libertarian is beyond me... open borders and free trade are cornerstones of libertarianism..., but if Thiel willing to remember what libertarianism is about when it comes to weed, let's pull out all the stops... cannabis needs to available on the free market.)
(Score: 1) by TheCastro on Friday September 21 2018, @03:26PM
Halting of Trading due to volatility or computer errors from a trader always seemed like bullshit to me. Can I get my money back because I bought the wrong stock? Doubtful. If the market or a company starts to crash fine, they don't seem to stop it when it goes up and up and up.