On Thursday Trade to blackpresented by Flowhub. Jim Higdon, co-founder of Cornbread Hemp, joins us to break down developments out of Washington. Reports have surfaced that the Trump administration has approached Congress about a proposed ban on cannabis. This immediately raises questions about whether the November 12 deadline could be pushed back, softened, or materially changed before their second guest segment. FundCanna CEO Adam Stettner also joins us from last week’s Chicago conference.

In the first segment, Adam Stetter, CEO of FundCanna, updated the IgniteIt conference in Chicago with a perspective that cut through the sheer festivity that many attendees brought home. While acknowledging that the optimism in the room was real and well-founded, Stettner said he pressed operators with a more difficult question. What does positive sentiment really mean for your business now? He found that most had difficulty answering specifically.

He described the gap not as a reason for pessimism, but as a call for discipline. long-term momentum is building, but near-term fundamentals have yet to change significantly, and operators who mistake optimism for improving business risk making ill-timed moves.

In part two, Jim Higdon, co-founder of Cornbread Hemp, broke down developments in Washington around hemp prohibition. He described the White House’s latest message to Congress as the fourth meaningful shot at a legislative fix this year, and noted that the coalition seeking a solution is growing and the administration is getting more specific, now openly calling for Andy Barr’s bill or an extension of the framework as part of an additional appropriations package.

Higdon emphasized that Cornbread Hemp is focused on maintaining two routes; supplement-style full-spectrum CBD products with one or about three milligrams of THC per serving, consistent with the CMS Medicare pilot program, and low-dose beverages dispensed through a three-tier alcohol system. He was careful to distinguish those products from smoking cannabis flower, which he said is the main source of friction between cannabis and the state-licensed cannabis industry.

This and more when you join.

Shad Dales and Anthony Varrell hosted a special Friday morning edition Trade to blackpresented by Flowhub. We start with Safe Harbor Financial (NASDAQ: SHFS ) CEO Terry Mendez and his thoughts on the IgniteIt conference. Then Andrew O’Connell, author of the Pristine Capital Substack and former US Investment Champions, presents new data on recent insider activity related to Trulieve (NYSE: TRLV ) and CEO Kim Rivers.

The presenters opened by noting that the DEA has signaled its intention to emphasize testimony about the medical benefits of marijuana at hearings, making the scientific and medical record front and center;

In the first segment, Safe Harbor Financial (NASDAQ: SHFS ) CEO Terry Mendez joined the IgniteIt conference in Chicago to discuss what he sees from institutional banks as they quietly begin to prepare for the future impact of cannabis. He described a financial sector that is increasingly curious, but still cautious, where banks are seeking education on how to value space, how the compliance of cannabis infrastructure is required, and how consolidation among operators will affect deposit relationships and loan demand.

In the second installment, Andrew O’Connell, author of Pristine Capital Substack and former US Investment Championship contestant, is back to break down new information about recent insider activity involving Trulieve (NYSE: TRLV ) and CEO Kim Rivers. He explained that the sale of his stock was part of a standard 10b5-1 plan announced in March ahead of the NYSE float, giving investors a 90-day window before any trades could take place with an independent executing broker handling the trade and removing Rivers from any discretionary involvement.

He reviewed volume data that showed his sales represented five to seven percent of the day’s trading in several sessions, noted that roughly 91 percent of the first tranche of 1.7 million shares was completed, and emphasized that Rivers retains an ownership stake of roughly 9 percent, worth about $150 million. Hear the full interview when you listen.

In our latest Trade To Black podcast presented by FlowHub, hosts Shadd Dales and Anthony Varrell sat down with Anthony Coniglio, CEO of NewLake Capital Partners (OTCQX: NLCP) . We are opening a Continued View on Definium Therapeutics following the previous day’s Phase 3 news. Then in Segment Two, Sasha Kalchef-Korn, CEO of Care Sector, will join us in the weekly Vantage Standard segment to discuss the type of data CMS is seeking through the CBD pilot program.

Anthony Coniglio, CEO of NewLake Capital Partners (OTCQX: NLCP ), shared from the IgniteIt conference in Chicago and a gathering of small-cap investors in Las Vegas. He described the mood in Chicago as one of unmistakable optimism, with consolidation emerging as a dominant theme. At the Las Vegas event, NewLake had nearly 21 individual meets over two days. Coniglio noted the surprising level of awareness among attendees about cannabis regulatory reform, which is a stark contrast to previous years when the company spent much of its time educating investors that reform was underway at all.

The conversation was about a commonly confused question about FinCEN and the IRS or Treasury guidance on 280E. Both Homes and Coniglio agree that much of what the market expects will come more accurately from the IRS or Treasury Department under the FinCEN label.

The second installment of the weekly Vantage Standard series features Sacha Kalchef-Korn, CEO of Care Sector. His organization has spent nearly a decade building an IRB-approved observational research registry that tracks the real-world outcomes of cannabinoids in a variety of conditions and patient populations; exactly the type of data CMS is seeking through its CBD pilot program.

He explained how that accumulated data is being applied to the current program, which operates through Accountable Care Organizations rather than the traditional pharmaceutical pathway, and why that structure is suitable for demonstrating cost reductions and improved health outcomes over time. Sleep and pain were identified as the most promising early use cases, given the relatively poor side effect profiles of traditional pharmaceutical alternatives.

The episode closed with the latest news, as the full ALJ hearing schedule was released, detailing the lineup of opponents to reshuffle who will represent the June 29-July 14 hearings.