What s happening?
I can almost hear the harrumphing from the shires that we are even considering the possibility of investing in marijuana. However, the fact is we can invest. What we need to consider is whether we should.
There are two categories of cannabis products. First, there is medical marijuana. Currently this is broadly legal in 35 US states, with New Jersey shortly to be added. Additionally, you can include more than 30 further countries. Typically this would be by prescription only for the treatment of anxiety, depression, pain and stress.
Secondly, there is recreational marijuana. So far 15 US states have legalised it for adult use, including the political centre that is the District of Columbia. It has been legal in Canada since October 2018 and in Uruguay since 2014.
What s happening?
What actually is a commodity? You would think that this question should have a simple answer, but as ever in the investment world, nothing is that straightforward.
A commodity is almost anything that is tradeable. But as far as markets are concerned, it normally refers to the basic items of life, from soft commodities such as food and drink through to metal ores and gold.
Essentially, if it is not nailed down, it is probably a tradeable commodity – and that probably includes the nail.
Digging deep: Rio Tinto is a well-diversified FTSE100 mining giant, and a leading producer of the three most-consumed industrial metals
MR MONEY MAKER: Commodities boost Covid recovery thisismoney.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thisismoney.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Gazprom’s TurkStream natural gas pipeline to Turkey and Southeast Europe has drawn less opposition, certainly compared with the controversial Nord Stream 2 from Russia to Germany, although its goal has been the same – to allow Russian gas to reach European markets without transiting Ukraine.
According to data from S&P Global Platts Analytics, in 2019, Bulgaria received 2.4 billion cubic meters of Russian gas via the Ukraine-Moldova-Romania Trans-Balkan route and transited 4 billion cubic meters more onto Turkey. A year later the volume received via that route fell to almost zero, with TurkStream instead supplying the Bulgarian market.
Greece’s take of TurkStream gas in 2020 was up 18% on the 2.41 billion cubic meters of Russian gas it bought the year before delivered by the Trans-Balkan line, while North Macedonia’s imports were also up from the 0.3 billion cubic meters purchased in 2019, S&P Global Platts said on February 8.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies led by Russia, a group known as OPEC+, reportedly maintained its oil output policy at a Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) meeting convened via teleconference on February 3.
OPEC+ is optimistic for a year of recovery in 2021, a statement issued after the meeting read, Reuters reported, noting that the OPEC+ panel made no mention of changing policy, which calls for most members to hold supply steady in February and OPEC-kingpin Saudi Arabia to slash production voluntarily by 1 million barrels per day this month and next.
The 14th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting is scheduled for March 4. At that meeting, fundamental disagreements between the Saudis and Russia are expected to resurface. While Riyadh has sought higher prices to cover government spending, Moscow is prepared to increase production and lower prices wanting to deter US shale producers from coming back into the market. At last month’s mee