Our munKNEE.com's Pot Stock Index (PSI) was up +16.5% in July compared to a -8.0% decline in June and a +25.3% advance in May. Hopefully the trend won't continue with a significant decline in August. Time will tell. 

The pot stock universe has 400+ cannabis-related securities listed on the various Canadian and American stock exchanges of which approx. 300 actively trade. Of those 300 only 25 (that's just 8% of the total) fulfill the criteria for inclusion in the Pot Stock Index of being pure-play* cannabis companies (i.e derive 100% of their revenue from the sale of cannabis or cannabis-related products) whose stocks consistently trade for at least US$1/share.

Below are the major winners and losers for the month of July:

Major Winners

Three constituents went UP in excess of 50%, namely:

1. Planet 13 (PLNCF) +77.8%
2. cbdMD (YCBD) +72.8%
3. TerrAscend (TRSSF) +50.9%

Five constituents went UP between 30% and 49.9%, namely:

1. Curaleaf (CURLF) +38.4%
2. Cresco (CRLBF) +38.1%
3. Jushi (JUSHF) +37.4%
4. Green Thumb (GTBIF) +34.1%
5. Columbia (CCHWF) +32.0%

Seven constituents went UP between 10% and 29.9%, namely:

1. Trulieve (TCNNF) +29.0%
2. Village Farms (VFF) +27.1%
3. AYR (AYRSF) +26.4%
4. Acreage (ACRGF) +21.9%
5. Canopy (CGC) +13.1%
6. Rubicon (ROMJF) +11.5%
7. Aphria (APHA) +11.4%

Another two constituents had prices increases of less than 10% for the week.

Major Losers

Two constituents went DOWN in excess 20%, namely:

1. Medicine Man (SHWZ) -25.4%
2. Organigram (OGI) -21.2%

Two constituents went DOWN between 10% and 19.9%, namely:

1. Aurora (ACB) -18.0%
2. Valens (VLNCF) -12.4%

3 other constituents had price declines of less than 5% for the week and one constituent had No Change in price.

Further details regarding the equal-weighted pure-play index are as follows:

• *Unlike every marijuana ETF (see this TalkMarkets article for details) and every other cannabis tracking index (see this TalkMarkets article for details), the PSI inclusion criteria excludes those "wanna-be" marijuana companies who generate little, if any, of their total revenue from the cannabis industry so as to reflect the true health of the marijuana industry in the U.S. and Canada. Those industry sectors include:
  • those pharmaceutical companies hoping to include cannabis in future products,
  • those tobacco/alcohol companies with part ownership in marijuana companies (read this TalkMarkets article for details),
  • those companies trying to develop marijuana-infused consumer products,
  • those retailers who also sell some cannabis products,
  • those horticultural and construction companies who do business with marijuana companies,
  • those business service/consulting companies who have marijuana companies as clients, and
  • those real estate investment trusts concentrating on the marijuana sector.
• The official definition of a "penny" stock is one that trades below US$5/share but, when it comes to pot stocks, that is where 92% of the total universe trades, so the more literal definition of stocks that trade for less than US$1/share is used.
• The market capitalization of the 25 constituents in the PSI is US$962.8M, on average.
• The constituents operate in 3 categories based on their primary area of focus and they are identified below within each applicable category:
  1. The Vertically Integrated (i.e. Seed-to-Sale) Category consists of 22 companies that grow, process, and sell cannabis and hemp flower and related products of which:
     • 8 constituents are Canadian Licensed Producers (LPs), namely: ACB; APHA; CGC; CRON; OGI; ROMJF; TLRY and VFF
       • and they increased 4.4%, on average, in July.
     • 11 constituents are American Multi-State Operators (MSOs), namely: ACRGF; AYRSF; CCHWF; CRLBF;  CURLF; GTBIF; JUSHF; PLNHF; SHWZ; TRSSF and TCNNF
       • and they advanced 32.0%, on average, in July.
     • 3 constituents are only involved in the seed-to-sale of CBD from hemp, namely: AVCNF; CWBHF, and  YCBD
       • and they advanced 14.0%, on average, in July.
  2. The Extraction Category consists of companies focused on the extraction of cannabis compounds and their infusion into consumer products of which:
     • 2 are NPSI constituents, namely: NEPT and VLNCF
       • and they declined by 5.0%, on average, in July.
  3. The Consumption Devices Category consists ofcompanies focused on developing and selling personal consumption devices for cannabis consumers such as vape pens and inhalers.
     • 1 constituent is in this category, namely, GNLN
       • and it declined 3% this past week.