A famous short seller is considering starting a cannabis fund

pulse

September 26, 2018 2:33 PM

Citron Research founder Andrew Left said that he’s considering creating a fund dedicated to the the cannabis sector, which would be aimed at taking both long and short positions on Marijuana stocks, BNN Bloomberg reported.

BNN Bloomberg reported.
Left told Bloomberg.

Andrew Left, one of the most famous short sellers on Wall Street is looking to play both sides of the cannabis market.

Left,founder and executive editor Citron Research said that he’s considering creating a fund dedicated to the the cannabis sector, which would be aimed at taking both long and short positions on marijuana stocks, BNN Bloomberg reported.

Left said the fund would begin with Canadian listed pot companies, and then move to more US based companies if they are able to list on US exchanges over a 24 month period. He added that the fund could be finalized by the end of the year and estimated it could be valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

"The reason why I’m thinking of putting a vehicle together for trading these stocks is because it will allow investors to trade with someone who has experience short selling," Left told Bloomberg.

"You have to imagine. What you’re seeing right now [in the cannabis sector] is that all these are Canadian companies. What happens on the next wave when U.S. companies go public. Oh my God," he added.

The New York Times has described Left as "The Bounty Hunter of Wall Street," and Bloomberg reported that he has a history of finding Canadian firms he thinks are overvalued or engaged in fraud, and targeting them.

"Right now, it’s a game," he said of the industry. "Once it stops being a game and people want to see numbers, everything changes."

But Left still sees value in some Cannabis companies, especially those producing cannabidiol, a non-psychoactive chemical found in marijuana plants.

"The sector is overvalued, no doubt, but that’s not the question. The question is how long can it stay overvalued and that’s where having a short-seller -- working with a professional -- is more important than doing it yourself," Left told Bloomberg.

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