Only 23 of the 225 cannabis and ancillary companies trading on the various North American stock exchanges meet the criteria* for inclusion in the munKNEE  Pure-Play "Seed-to-Sale" Pot Stocks Index. The Index consists of two sub-categories: the Canadian Pure-Play Licensed Producers (LPs) Pot Stock Index and the American Pure-Play Multi-State Operators (MSOs) Pot Stock Index. Which has out-performed so far this month and YTD: LPs or MSOs? This article has the answers.

*The criteria for inclusion in the munKNEE pot stock indices are vertically integrated (seed-to-sale) companies that derive 100% of their revenue from the sector, have a market capitalization in excess of US$300K, and trade for at least US$1/share. Only 6 Canadian LP stocks and 17 American MSO stocks meet those criteria.  

The munKNEE Canadian Pure-Play Licensed Producers Pot Stock Index

• is -10.9% so far in September and
• is now -17.4% YTD.
  • Its constituents are: Canopy (CGC), Tilray (TLRY), Cronos (CRON), Aurora (ACB),  Hexo (HEXO) and Organigram (OGI).
  • ALL of the 6 constituent stocks in the sub-category declined in price by 5% or more, namely, in descending order:
    1. Cronos: DOWN -7.7% month-to-date and is now DOWN -13.8% YTD
    2. Aurora: DOWN -7.7% and is now DOWN -20.2% YTD
    3. Organigram: DOWN -8.4% but is still UP +80.5% YTD
    4. Tilray: DOWN -9.3% but is still UP +47.3% YTD
    5. Canopy: DOWN -14.4% and is now DOWN -40.3% YTD
    6. Hexo: DOWN -16.0% and is now DOWN -44.6% YTD 

The munKNEE American Pure-Play Multi-State Operators Pot Stock Index

• is -6.1% so far in September and
• is now -9.5% YTD.
  • Its constituents are: Curaleaf (CURLF), Green Thumb (GTBIF), Trulieve (TRSSF), Verano (VRNOF), Cresco (CRLBF),  TerrAscend(TRSSF), Columbia (CCHWF), Harvest Health  (HRVSF), Ascend  Wellness (AAWH),  Planet 13 (PLNHF),   Ayr (AYRWF), Jushi  (JUSHF), 4 Front (FFNTF),  Charlotte's Web (CWBHF), Gage (GAGE), Acreage (ACRDF & ACRHF) and Goodness Growth (GDNSF).
    • ALL but 4 of the 17 constituent stocks in the sub-category declined in price of which 11 did so by more than 5% as follows, in ascending order:
      1. Goodness Growth: UP +9.9% month-to-date and is now DOWN -4.1% YTD
      2. Gage Growth: UP +6.1% and is now unchanged in price YTD
      3. Verano: UP +5.1% but is still DOWN -47.8% YTD 
      4. Curaleaf: DOWN -5.0% and is now DOWN -4.3% YTD
      5. 4 Front: DOWN -7.2% but is still UP +13.2% YTD
      6. Acreage: DOWN -7.9% and now DOWN -11.9% YTD
      7. Jushi: DOWN -9.1% and now DOWN -27.0% YTD
      8. Green Thumb: DOWN -12.4% but is UP +8.0% YTD
      9. Cresco: DOWN -12.5% and is now DOWN -11.6% YTD
      10. Charlotte's Web: DOWN -16.7% and is now DOWN -37.9% YTD
      11. Ascend Wellness: DOWN -17.0% and is now DOWN -8.3% YTD since it began trading on May 4th.

Summary:

In total, the Pure-Play "Seed-to-Sale" Pot Stocks Index is DOWN -7.3% month-to-date and is now DOWN -11.7% YTD while

• the American Pure-Play Multi-State Operators Pot Stock Index
  • has out-performed the Canadian Pure-Play Licensed Producers Pot Stock Index sub-index so far this month, at -6.1% versus -10.9% for the LP sub-index
  • and is currently out-performing the LP sub-index YTD, DOWN only -9.5% versus -17.4% for the LP sub-index.

The above non-tradable indices replicate the performance of a portfolio investing an equal amount of money in each company in the cannabis categories, with daily rebalancing to maintain equal weight.