Imagine you’re all in. You’ve raised hundreds of thousands … even millions of dollars to start up a business.
You’ve studied the market, secured the needed licenses and permits to operate in your state, picked out the storefront location that meets your requirements, lined up your suppliers, distributors, key staff members, security, IT, etc.
You’re now a red-blooded American entrepreneur, ready and willing to supply the growing market demand for your new product and make a fortune in the process.
Sounds great. Only thing is, if you’re in the blazing hot field of legal cannabis, something critical to your success is missing. Something so important, and so fundamental to operations, that any ordinary business owner wouldn’t think twice about moving forward with out. Not so in the cannabis world.
I’m talking about setting up a bank account.
Because cannabis is still illegal at the federal level, many banks risk federal regulators terminating or limiting either their deposit or share insurance simply for doing business with a cannabis company.
Without a banking relationship, cannabis businesses have to operate in cash. And not just the companies growing or selling cannabis. Firms that deal with a cannabis business in a glancing way, like a company that provides legal compliance advice, also are impacted.
That’s a dangerous place to be.
Imagine hauling in a bag full of $20s to pay your utility bill or your state tax bill each month. For starters, you’d have to beef up security measures to a degree unheard of for any normal business, just to pay your bills without fear of getting mugged!
Even employees, who again get paid in cash, can wind up as targets on criminals’ radar. We’re talking about everyday folks working in one of the nation’s fastest-growing jobs markets.
Now, a new bill making its way through Congress is set to upend this outdated legal regime and usher in the next wave of cannabis stock growth.
As it stands today, few banks take on cannabis businesses as clients. According to federal data, at the end of the second quarter there were 715 banks and credit unions serving U.S. cannabis-related companies. There are currently more than 5,000 credit unions alone in the country, and nearly as many FDIC-insured commercial banks.
For the lucky cannabis companies that do secure an account to pay their employees or their electricity bills, maintaining that account can be equally difficult, if not more.
The situation is untenable over the long term.
That’s why politicians from both sides of the aisle are backing a bill in Congress to protect banks that work with businesses operating in states where cannabis is already legal.
Last week, members of the House of Representatives voted by a more than three-to-one margin (321 vs. 103) to pass the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act.
Of course, the bill’s real test will come in the Senate.
Majority leader Mitch McConnell, who is a big supporter of legalized hemp in his home state of Kentucky, has continued to disapprove of higher-THC cannabis. His opposition to such a bill may not be as solid as it would appear, though, particularly during a hotly contested election season.
There is little doubt that the public supports legalization. To date, 47 states, three territories and Washington, D.C. have legalized cannabis in some form or fashion, or at least allow limited medical access. Many citizens voted directly in ballot measures to approve cannabis legalization in their home states. Some two-thirds of voters now support legalization, according to a Gallup poll from last fall.
Sen. Mike Crapo, the influential chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, has said he wants to hold a committee vote on the SAFE Banking Act before year’s end.
I believe the SAFE Banking Act represents another key stepping stone on the path to full legalization and fully expect national legalization in the United States will come sooner than many people think. Meanwhile, the SAFE Banking Act could work to immediately improve existing businesses margins and the long-term profit potential of the best cannabis companies in the space.
And it could lead a whole new group of up-and-comers to list on the major public exchanges. I call these Jumper Stocks — and they represent massive upside potential.
That translates into more ways than ever to take full advantage of my new trading strategy.
I’ve named it “Cannabis Cash Weekly.” It’s all about one thing: A chance at collecting lightning-fast income. We do that by combining covered calls with our longer-term play on the explosive growth of cannabis stocks.
A slew of folks have already joined me and earned their first pay day. Our inaugural trade last week earned a 3.5% gain in just two days — that works out to an annualized gain of 638.8%.
We’ve initiated two more trades since then, and many more are on the way.
There’s really nothing else like it on the market that I’ve seen. Instead of hiding out from short-term cannabis stock volatility, we’re actually taking advantage of that volatility to make more money … faster.
Anyone can do it. It’s less risky than owning just stocks. And … you get paid immediately every time you put on a new trade.
It’s the perfect combination of growth and income.
Matthew McCall is the founder and president of Penn Financial Group, an investment advisory firm, as well as the editor of Investment Opportunities and Early Stage Investor. He has dedicated his career to getting investors into the world’s biggest, most revolutionary trends BEFORE anyone else. The power of being “first” gave Matt’s readers the chance to bank +2,438% in Stamps.com (STMP), +1,523% in Ulta Beauty (ULTA), +1,044% in Tesla (TSLA), +611% in Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (LNGLY), +324% in Bitcoin Services (BTSC), just to name a few. If you’re interested in making triple-digit gains from the world’s biggest investment trends BEFORE anyone else, click here to learn more about Matt McCall and his investments strategy today.