Author: Anthonette Clerigo

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Article: Cronos Group besieged by short-seller Andrew Left’s Citron Research, shares fall and end sharply up Friday

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Cronos Group besieged by short-seller Andrew Left’s Citron Research, shares fall and end sharply up Friday

Ellen Kelleher, 31 August 2018

Shares in the Canadian cannabis group Cronos Group Inc (NASDAQ:CRON) have taken a tumble after the infamous short seller Andrew Left’s firm Citron Research delivered a pessimistic call on the stock. In a note to investors and via its Twitter feed, Citron Research charged that Cronos is the “most overhyped” of all the pot stocks and set a price target of US$3.50 on the Ontario-based company.

The stock fell by 28.4% to US$9.12 in Thursday’s after-hours session. Those losses were extended early on Friday when Cronos stock on the Nasdaq in New York slid another 4.5% to trade at US$8.70 in premarket business. But just as quickly, the stock reversed when trading got going on Friday. Shares climbed to a session peak of US$10.29 before ending 8.33% higher at US$9.88. The share rose 0.4% in after hours trade on Friday to US$9.92. In two days of trading, the stock had swung wildly from its lows to its highs.
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Article: Cronos CEO ‘confident’ about company’s disclosures amid Citron report

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Cronos CEO ‘confident’ about company’s disclosures amid Citron report

David George-Cosh, 30 August 2018

Cronos Group Inc. (CRON.TO) chief executive Mike Gorenstein said he is “very confident” in the Toronto-based cannabis producer’s disclosures after a short seller released a report alleging that it was “deceiving” investors.

U.S.-based Citron Research published a report Thursday that advised investors to exercise caution in the growing Canadian cannabis space, highlighting Cronos with a price target of just $3.50 a share. The report sent Cronos shares down nearly 27 per cent on the Toronto Stock Exchange, triggering a stock circuit breaker and briefly halted trading in the company’s shares. When shares resumed trading, Cronos fell as much as 29 per cent before paring earlier losses. Despite the dramatic drop, the shares are still higher than they were just a week earlier.
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Article: Marijuana Stocks Fall As Short Seller Says Pot Play Is ‘All Talk’

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Marijuana Stocks Fall As Short Seller Says Pot Play Is ‘All Talk’

BILL PETERS, 30 August 2018

Marijuana stocks retreated Thursday after short seller Citron Research alleged that Canadian cannabis producer Cronos Group (CRON) was “all talk” and was omitting key details about the size of its distribution agreements. The company, Citron Research alleged in a report Thursday, “appears to have been deceiving the investing public by purposely not disclosing the size of its distribution agreements with provinces — unlike every other major cannabis player.”

“Our sources have informed us that it’s because the agreements are so small they could never justify the premium investors are paying for the stock,” Citron Research said. Cronos said it could not comment on the report. The company said its advisers had done “all the necessary due diligence under both US and Canadian securities law.” In arguing its case, Citron cited an Aug. 21 news release from Cronos that announced provincial supply agreements across Canada, without any details about how big those deals were.
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Article: Cronos: The Dark Side of The Cannabis Space Target Price- $3.50

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Cronos: The Dark Side of The Cannabis Space Target Price- $3.50

Citron Research, 30 August 2018

Citron has a hot hand in cannabis lately. First Aurora ($ACB) and then in the last two weeks our trading calls played out to 70% returns. One long and one short (respectively: $TLRY and $CVSI). Citron would like to inform investors of caution on the ongoing and real green rush. Although the hype is big and the prohibition after 100 years is real, it is critical to understand that in the Canadian landscape, there are over 100 licensed producers and there will ultimately be more losers than winners.

While Canadian growers get ready for October 17 and the new age of recreational marijuana usage in Canada, Citron believes that there are a few truths that need to come to light with regards to Cronos. Cronos management appears to have been deceiving the investing public by purposely not disclosing the size of its distribution agreements with provinces – unlike every other major cannabis player
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Article: TILRAY: NEXT IN LINE IN A BUDDING CANNABIS INDUSTRY

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TILRAY: NEXT IN LINE IN A BUDDING CANNABIS INDUSTRY

Citron Research, 15 August 2018

On Jan 3, 2018, Citron predicted that Aurora Cannabis would fall from the then $14 to $6.50. It currently trades at $6.19.

Today we state that you would have to be ‘high’ to short any of the marijuana names based on the recent investment by Constellation in to Canopy Growth, the largest investment in the space ($4bn).The premium paid to market shows confidence by Constellation that could rattle any short seller.

The opportunity now lies in finding the next company to get a white knight at a premium to market and to Citron that answer is easy- Tilray.

Citron believes that Tilray is best in class and if it were to get the same multiple we are assigning to Canopy, the stock would be trading at $45 a share.
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Article: Fraudsters using Shopify to scam people, and critics say the company isn’t doing enough to stop them

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Fraudsters using Shopify to scam people, and critics say the company isn’t doing enough to stop them

Gerrit De Vynck and Alistair Barr, 09 August 2018

Shopify’s fight against fake users echoes similar battles being waged at Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. And like those companies, Shopify is contending with the same conundrum: Is a so-called platform company responsible for the behaviour of those who use it? Shopify must police users without limiting its ability to make fistfuls of cash from them.

“We can ensure that there are fewer bad actors on our platform every single day,” says Shopify Chief Operating Officer Harley Finkelstein. “Do some sneak in from time to time? It could happen, just like it could happen on any platform.”
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Article: Should You Buy Crius Energy Trust (TSE:KWH.UN) At This PE Ratio?

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Should You Buy Crius Energy Trust (TSE:KWH.UN) At This PE Ratio?

Kristin Rankin, 21 June 2018

Crius Energy Trust (TSE:KWH.UN) is currently trading at a trailing P/E of 5.7x, which is lower than the industry average of 101.3x. While this makes KWH.UN appear like a great stock to buy, you might change your mind after I explain the assumptions behind the P/E ratio. Today, I will deconstruct the P/E ratio and highlight what you need to be careful of when using the P/E ratio. The P/E ratio is one of many ratios used in relative valuation. By comparing a stock’s price per share to its earnings per share, we are able to see how much investors are paying for each dollar of the company’s earnings.
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Article: It’s happening again: FSD Pharma (HUGE.C) is an insider loaded, overvalued, restrictive mess

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It’s happening again: FSD Pharma (HUGE.C) is an insider loaded, overvalued, restrictive mess

CHRIS PARRY, 31 May 2018

What the hell is in the vodka on Howe Street that all of a sudden every new weed deal is coming out tied in knots that enrich the core crew at the expense of everyone else? We’ve spent three days shining a light on MedMen’s (MMEN.C) terrible go-public structure, which enriches execs at the expense of the company and shareholders, and showers them in bonuses every month, a situation that has led to around $400 million in market cap disintegrating over the last few days. Sure, In Vancouver we’re used to deals where insiders are loaded with literal penny (or ha’penny) stock before they even announce what’s going into their shell, and we know that’s one of the costs of doing business on the Venture Exchange – that those early guys will blow their cheap paper out and the company will face pressure as a result.
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Article: A Bull Market in Stock Bashing and 12 Stories from New Cannabis Ventures

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A Bull Market in Stock Bashing and 12 Stories from New Cannabis Ventures

Alan Brochstein, 06 May 2018

With so much interest in the the cannabis sector, we have noticed an increase in the number of bearish pieces on publicly-traded companies on platforms like Seeking Alpha. This week, for instance, an article called for an 80% decline in Namaste Technologies. The same writer, “Grumpy Bear Research”, took a shot at Isodiol International in the prior week. Many of the leading LPs in Canada have been the subject of these attacks as well, including, most recently, Aphria.

We aren’t going to weigh in on the validity of the arguments made or our views of these companies, but we do want to discuss the bigger picture. Many, though certainly not all, of these articles are very well researched and bring out information that is new to many investors in the company, often a reflection of the lack of due diligence done by retail investors and the void in negative research published by the Canadian investment banking firms that cover the space.
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Article: Jim Chanos: Bet Against Dunkin’ Brands, Burger King

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Jim Chanos: Bet Against Dunkin’ Brands, Burger King

F McGuire, 26 April 2018

Investment guru Jim Chanos is betting against Dunkin’ Brands and Burger King’s parent. Chanos told CNBC that he has been shorting fast-food stocks Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc. and Burger King’s parent Restaurant Brands International Inc. “for about a year.”

The founder and president of Kynikos Associates said in a “Squawk Box” interview that he’s shorting Dunkin’ Brands and Burger King’s parent Restaurant Brands International. “We’ve been short these things for about a year,” said Chanos. Chanos said price-to-earnings ratios for restaurant stocks have been going “higher, higher and higher as restaurants themselves have struggled.”

“At some point, that has to come to an end,” he said. “This is part of a broader theme … the franchisers versus the franchisees,” Chanos said. He said he doesn’t like what he calls “this asset-light idea” of these companies not owning their restaurants while “basically clipping the coupons, collecting royalties” from the franchises, CNBC.com reported.
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Article: Why Famed Short-Seller Jim Chanos Is Betting Against Burger King And Dunkin’ But Praising Chipotle

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Why Famed Short-Seller Jim Chanos Is Betting Against Burger King And Dunkin’ But Praising Chipotle

Maggie McGrath, 26 April 2018

The tale of two restaurant ownership models — wholly-owned and franchised — is translating into similarly divergent market performances for certain restaurant stocks Thursday. And much of the movement has to do with the comments of one short-seller.

Shares of Dunkin’ Brands and Restaurant Brands International (QSR), which is Burger King’s parent company, are in negative territory after Jim Chanos, the investor who famously shorted Enron, told CNBC Thursday morning that he’s taken short positions in both names. His reason: he is not optimistic about the future of asset-light, franchise-focused businesses. “[E]verybody wants to sell the restaurants and not own them but basically clip the coupon of collecting royalties,” he said. “And we’ve had this dichotomy now of restaurant stock multiples going higher and higher and higher as restaurants themselves have struggled. I think at some point that has to come to an end.”
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Article: Isodiol International Inc. (ISOLF): $ISOLF news out!

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Isodiol International Inc. (ISOLF): $ISOLF news out!”

stockman69, 25 April 2018

It has come to the attention of Isodiol International Inc. (CSE: ISOL) (OTC: ISOLF) (FSE: LB6A.F) (the “Company” or “Isodiol”) that an anonymous author by the fictitious name “Grumpy Bear” has posted a lengthy article on the website www.seekingalpha.com that is intended to disparage the Company by any means possible. While Isodiol has a general policy of not responding to anonymous media and online postings, this particular article is the first of its kind, has had wide dissemination, and has a misleading air of credibility due to the website where it was posted.

We wish to be clear. The author is not credible, and the article is not credible. The author has written four articles under the Grumpy Bear alias, and each one appears timed to an artificial sell-off in the stock of the target issuer for the benefit of a specific short-selling fund group. There also is evidence that suggests the real people behind the Grumpy Bear alias have engaged in similar tactics for the better part of the last decade under other aliases, two of which have resulted in several hundred million dollar lawsuits against the fund group.
Moreover, the article was not written to journalistic or regulated research analyst standards and has no such integrity. Other than scattered facts with citations to voluntary public disclosures by the Company and certain other limited public information, the article is fiction. The fictional and defamatory nature of the article also is why the true identity of Grumpy Bear is concealed by use of an anonymous third-party e-mail server based in Switzerland. Isodiol intends to pursue all available legal remedies against the author and these artificial short sellers.
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Article: Isodiol Is MJNA 2.0 – Expect Massive Dilution From Not-So-Arm’s-Length Transactions

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Isodiol Is MJNA 2.0 – Expect Massive Dilution From Not-So-Arm’s-Length Transactions

Grumpy Bear Research, 23 April 2018

During the past few months, Isodiol International Inc. (OTCQB:ISOLF) has seen its stock price rocket up by over 300%, giving it a market capitalization of about CAD$300 million (CAD$424 million fully diluted). The company has the appearance of a rapidly growing business in phytoceuticals (plant-based health supplements) that focused on derivatives of hemp. Hemp is a cousin to the cannabis plant and is a source of non-narcotic cannabidiol (“CBD”), which is used in many nutraceutical products and is presumptively legal throughout the United States.

Revenues have also gone up exponentially at Isodiol in the past year, due largely to a plethora of acquisitions. In fact, the company actually delivered sales of CAD$5.9 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2017, which was an enormous increase over the CAD$3 million of revenue just two quarters ago. While they only eked out a small net profit of CAD$0.2 million, with that kind of revenue growth, the obvious sales pitch is that Isodiol is a rapidly growing company in the red-hot marijuana sector…even though they are not selling marijuana. Isodiol CEO, Marcos Agramont indicated his confidence in the company’s future by stating “We had another strong quarter of revenue growth and will continue our commitment to delivering high-quality hemp-derived CBD products through innovative delivery methods, which is the core of our success”.
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Article: This small online retail stock will plunge if Facebook takes its data ‘punch bowl’ away, says short-seller Andrew Left

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This small online retail stock will plunge if Facebook takes its data ‘punch bowl’ away, says short-seller Andrew Left

Thomas Franck, 26 March 2018

Citron Research’s Andrew Left, who’s gained notoriety for successful bets against companies such as Valeant Pharmaceuticals, on Monday posted a new bearish report on Shopify. Shares of Shopify fell more than 3 percent after Left disparaged the relationship between Shopify and Facebook as an “unholy alliance,” based on the exchange of personal information collected by Facebook and sold to Shopify “entrepreneurs.”

Founded in 2004, Shopify’s software helps merchants run their businesses across a variety of platforms, including web, social media storefronts, and brick-and-mortar pop-up shops. It assists merchants in managing products, processing orders and analyzing customer trends.
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Article: Crius Energy Trust Provides Further Response to False and Misleading Statements by Anonymous Short Seller

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Crius Energy Trust Provides Further Response to False and Misleading Statements by Anonymous Short Seller

GLOBE NEWSWIRE, 02 March 2018

On February 28, the market price of Crius Energy Trust (“Crius Energy” the “Company” or the “Trust”) (TSX:KWH.UN) units declined significantly in response to false and misleading statements made in a blog posting by an anonymous, self-described short seller of our Trust units (the “Short Seller”). While it is not the Company’s practice to respond to bloggers or commenters in investor forums, we believe that given the magnitude of the impact on the price of our units as well as the malicious nature of the statements made by the Short Seller, it is in the best interests of our unitholders for us to respond. Furthermore, Crius Energy believes that it has identified the persons and entities responsible for the blog post. The Trust intends to take appropriate measures, both in the courts and with appropriate securities regulatory authorities, to address the harm done to our unitholders.
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