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 performed the best last week and has performed the best year-to-date: LPs or MSOs? This article has the answers.

*The criteria for inclusion in the munKNEE marijuana 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

• was +0.3% last week and
• is now -6.9% YTD.
  • Its constituents are: Canopy (CGC), Tilray (TLRY), Cronos (CRON), Aurora (ACB),  Hexo (HEXO) and Organigram (OGI), and .
  • None of the 6 constituent stocks in the sub-category changed in price by 5% or more.

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

• was -0.5 last week and
• is now +4.4% 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).
    • 7 of the 17 constituent stocks advanced in price last week but only 3 did so by more than 5% while another 2 declined by 5% or more. The details are as follows in descending order with their year-to-date percentage changes in brackets:
      1. Goodness Growth: +12.0%; (now +7.4% YTD)
      2. Verano: +11.4%; (still -46.9% YTD)
      3. Columbia Care: +8.1%; (still -26.9% YTD)
      4. TerrAscend: -6.0%; (now -32.4%)
         • - announced they will acquire cannabis brand and operator Gage Growth in a stock deal worth ~$545M.
      5. 4 Front Ventures: -7.2%; (now +13.2%)

Summary:

In total, the Pure-Play "Seed-to-Sale" Pot Stocks Index declined -0.3%  last week and is now only +1.4% YTD while

• the Canadian Pure-Play Licensed Producers Pot Stock Index
  • out-performed the MSO sub-index last week, at +0.3% versus -0.5% for the MSO sub-index but has
  • under-performed the MSO sub-index YTD, at -6.9% versus +4.4% for the MSO 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.