A Cannabis ETF and a Micro-Cap Stock That Have Grabbed My Attention

The ETF is showing signs of perking up and the micro-cap is a maker of electric outboard motors.

I've stopped counting the number of investors disappointed by the lack of progress surrounding cannabis reform at the federal level. Anyone who invested in the U.S. multi-state operators or the AdvisorShares Pure U.S. Cannabis ETF (MSOS) based on President Joe Biden's February 2021 promise to pursue cannabis decriminalization and expungements for people with prior cannabis convictions has both lost money and faith in their elected leaders. But losing faith in politicians isn't exactly a new thing.

Nonetheless, if you look at a chart of MSOS and pull out a magnifying glass, you'll see that it has closed above a 50-day simple moving average (SMA) for two days in a row. I know that doesn't sound like much, but given that it's only closed above the 50-day SMA about 12 days this year, I'm keeping an eye on it (and a small position in it) to see if buyers are ready to re-engage. There's no need to rush into a position, but if the stock can close above $13, we'd finally have the early makings of a bullish pattern.

I told you about a month ago about a partnership Vision Marine Technologies (VMAR) entered into with Groupe Beneteau. The general idea behind this partnership is that Groupe Beneteau will begin integrating Vision Marine's electric outboard motors on several models of its boats across the company's massive brand portfolio.

As I explained when I first told you about this partnership, Groupe Beneteau is a massive player in the recreational boating industry, overseeing 12 brands with a combined 180 different boat models. Suffice it to say that scoring a deal with these guys is potentially transformative for Vision Marine.

I'm scheduled to speak with Alex Mongeon, VMAR's CEO, on Wednesday. If I learn anything new about the company's partnership with Groupe Beneteau, I will share it with you. While neither company has released any firm order numbers, it won't take much to move the bottom line on VMAR's $50 million market cap.

The resistance area I've been watching is $7.25 to $7.75. For whatever reason, the stock caught fire late on Thursday and exploded higher on Friday's open before finally pulling back during the early afternoon. Whether Friday's move was related to squeezing shorts is anyone's guess, but the bottom line is the stock is in play and worth keeping an eye on.

Short-term traders can consider buying a dip against the rising 8-day exponential moving average, while position traders who are not already long the stock should be looking for a close above $7.75 to $8 before taking action.

At the time of publication, Byrne was long MSOS and VMAR.

(Please note that due to factors including low market capitalization and/or insufficient public float, we consider VMAR to be a small-cap stock. You should be aware that such stocks are subject to more risk than stocks of larger companies, including greater volatility, lower liquidity and less publicly available information, and that postings such as this one can have an effect on their stock prices.)