We’re going full speed into the time of year supposedly filled with “good cheer.”
The reality? People choosing the hill they’ll die on over the printed patterns on coffee cups. Frazzled parents, kids in full meltdown mode, adults in full meltdown mode.
I once worked at a trendy national grocery store and was accused of ruining Christmas by a lady who showed up two hours after close. She went to her car and wailed on her horn for a couple minutes.
I assumed tears and some screaming were involved too, but I wasn’t planning on getting any more involved. She was back the next morning — Christmas Eve. Christmas, it seems, was back on.
Then there is everything else that isn’t holiday related: impeachment, election malarkey, looming government shutdowns.
On the business side there are mixed signals in economic data, chronic systemic issues, and a brewing existential debate in economics.
We don’t know if anything economists have assumed even matters anymore, like the interaction between unemployment, inflation, and wage growth.
I figure it’s time to look in a place where things are looking up.
The marijuana sector has had a tough year but we’re getting a slew of promising news that points to 2020 going back to a year of strong gains.
We have the MORE Act passing Congress while the more conservative — or timid, if you will — STATES Act is on the back burner.
Both push the Feds to get out of the way of states’ rights and their growing marijuana businesses.
This comes on the heels of the SAFE Act passing Congress earlier this year, which would open a flood of banking services that will dramatically change how marijuana businesses can operate, saving money and unlocking credit facilities.
Our resident marijuana sector expert, Jimmy Mengel, covered how promising both are last week.
On the research front, the DEA just finalized plans to authorize a 30% increase in marijuana grown for research purposes.
This marijuana is more like hemp than the product being sold by states and researchers have a nearly universal disdain for it.
Researchers have been crying foul over this for some time, going as far as to file a lawsuit accusing the agency of using delaying tactics to undermine its responsibility to act on the more than two dozen applications to become federally approved marijuana cultivators.
The lawsuit was dismissed with the DEA saying it was developing alternative rules to handle the volume of applications. Expect movement on this front next year as well. More delays won’t be tolerated.
Then there is news from the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office, which just released its assessment of the procedures the USDA is using to determine final rules on hemp farming and processing that was authorized under the 2018 Farm Bill.
Recreational sales are starting in Michigan and Illinois a month behind.
Minnesota is expanding conditions for which medical marijuana can be prescribed to include chronic pain and macular degeneration.
Six states — Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Missouri, New Jersey, and South Dakota — have possible full legalization up to a vote next year.
On the international scene, analysts and investment firms are expecting a wave of marijuana IPOs from European companies next year.
These companies are seeing a much more favorable environment for raising capital in the sector in the near future — always a bullish signal.
Finally, much closer to home, Jimmy has just rolled out what he considers to be the next Canopy Growth, a company his readers saw a total return of 3,220% on.
Things are looking up again in the marijuana sector and it is a good reason to be happy as we set ourselves up for more monumental profits. Make sure you’re in on the next big wave.
