What's Going On With Cannabis-Producer Akanda's Stock?

Akanda Corp. AKAN shares are trading higher Friday amid increased volaility in marijuana stocks after President Biden announced the Department of Justice is taking the next step towards the reclassification of marijuana from a Schedule I substance to a Schedule III. 

The Details:

President Biden posted a video on the social media platform X Thursday with the following caption: 

"Too many lives have been upended because of our failed approach to marijuana. So today, the @TheJusticeDept is taking the next step to reclassify marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule III drug under federal law."

The Department of Justice reportedly planned to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking on Thursday that would reclassify marijuana to Schedule III after a 60-day public comment period.

Major players in the marijuana industry, including Canopy Growth Corporation CGC, Aurora Cannabis Inc. ACB and Tilray Brands, Inc. TLRY, shares rose Thursday on the long-awaited news, but the rally has since cooled. 

Akanda shares are racing higher on heavy trading volume Friday with more than 100 million shares already traded early in the session. According to data from Benzinga Pro, the stock has a 100-day average volume of 11.329 million shares and a float of 32.016 million shares.

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How To Buy AKAN Stock:

By now you're likely curious about how to participate in the market for Akanda – be it to purchase shares, or even attempt to bet against the company.

Buying shares is typically done through a brokerage account. You can find a list of possible trading platforms here. Many will allow you to buy ‘fractional shares,' which allows you to own portions of stock without buying an entire share. For example, some stock, like Berkshire Hathaway, or Amazon.com, can cost thousands of dollars to own just one share. However, if you only want to invest a fraction of that, brokerages will allow you to do so.

In the the case of Akanda , which is trading at $0.30 as of publishing time, $100 would buy you 333.33 shares of stock.

If you're looking to bet against a company, the process is more complex. You'll need access to an options trading platform, or a broker who will allow you to ‘go short' a share of stock by lending you the shares to sell. The process of shorting a stock can be found at this resource. Otherwise, if your broker allows you to trade options, you can either buy a put option, or sell a call option at a strike price above where shares are currently trading – either way it allows you to profit off of the share price decline.

AKAN Price Action: According to Benzinga Pro, Akanda shares are up 137% at 31 cents at the time of publication Friday.

Image: Hvoenok and GOR Photo from Shutterstock