More than three dozen cannabis companies applied for the POT symbol on the Canadian Securities Exchange after it became available this week. Potash Corporation relinquished the symbol, and so many Canadian companies wanted it that the CSE ran a first-ever random lottery for the symbol. A small firm in Vancouver, Weekend Unlimited, won the ticker in the lottery.

The company formerly had the ticker YOLO, which stands for “you only live once.” Most sites like TradingView were still showing YOLO as the company’s ticker. In the 24 hours after it officially became POT, it surged 65%.

Pot Stock Almost Doubles after Winning Coveted Ticker Symbol

At the time Bloomberg wrote on the subject earlier today, YOLO/POT was on the way up. By press time it had risen more than 90% over the 24-hour period. The stock market is a psychological game. Traders believe in brand recognition. The strategy is likely along these lines: as people come in and invest in the marijuana industry, one of the first symbols they will consider is POT.

In a prepared statement, Weekend Unlimited CEO Paul Chu says:

Weekend Unlimited is thrilled to add the iconic POT trading symbol to its identity. As a fast-growing multi-state operator, Weekend Unlimited is developing lifestyle brands around recreational and wellness to help define the future of the cannabis industry. The POT symbol is a tremendous fit with our brand identity. […] The POT lottery served to raise the profile of Canada’s leadership in legal recreational cannabis and we believe it will also serve to raise Weekend Unlimited’s profile.

Weekend Unlimited was not on the list of 8 cannabis companies given a “buy” or “speculative buy” rating by Canaccord recently. Perhaps the only pot stock on the list with a memorable symbol is Curafleaf, whose ticker is CURA.

Other stock exchanges have POT symbols, but the CSE might be the only one where it is a cannabis company. The New Zealand exchange, for example, has POT – Port Of Tauranga NPV. According to Bloomberg, there may soon be another YOLO symbol on the New York Stock Exchange, created by AdvisorShares Pure Cannabis ETF.

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