In the latest Trade To Black podcast presented by Flowhub, hosts Shadd Dales and Anthony Varrell kick things off with stories out of Washington and Michigan before shifting into an options-market breakdown on MSOS, with day trader Andrew O’Connell of the Pristine Capital Substack.
First, the policy front. Congressional researchers are again calling out the FDA for missing a legal deadline — now six months overdue — to publish required lists of known cannabinoids and guidance on hemp product “container” definitions, a delay hemp industry leaders say makes compliance nearly impossible. In Michigan, GOP gubernatorial candidate John James unveiled a platform pledging to repeal or sharply reduce the state’s 24% wholesale cannabis tax while cracking down on unregulated delta-8 and THCA sales at gas stations and smoke shops, as the levy falls well short of its road-funding target in the country’s cheapest legal market. And DEA Chief Administrative Law Judge Derek Julius issued an order correcting the roughly 2,500-page rescheduling-hearing transcript, with the final version due by August 26 — a procedural step, not the recommendation everyone’s awaiting — while the DEA’s own final brief argues marijuana no longer meets the legal criteria to remain in Schedule I.
We also stay on the escalating Curaleaf–Aurora fight. Aurora, through a newly formed special committee, is again urging shareholders to take no action, disputing Curaleaf’s characterization of its cultivation output and pointing to its own record fiscal 2026 medical revenue and adjusted EBITDA, with CEO Miguel Martin arguing Curaleaf is trying to acquire Aurora’s EU-GMP infrastructure at the lowest possible price. We read it differently: with Curaleaf up sharply and Aurora down over the past year, we make the case that Aurora shareholders should want Curaleaf paper ahead of U.S. reform — and that Martin should come to the table, perhaps around $6 a share.
Then in segment two, O’Connell — a past participant in the U.S. Investing Championship — returns to break down a setup in the options market. MSOS options open interest is heavily stacked at a single $5 strike, roughly 150,000 contracts, dwarfing every other level on the chain. He explains why that concentration matters through the lens of gamma, and what could happen to dealer hedging behavior if MSOS pushes through that level, especially on a positive ALJ recommendation — flagging MSOS’s recent outperformance of the S&P 500 while stressing it’s his own view, not advice, and that he hedges with Trulieve common shares.
Tune in for the full rundown.
