Amateur trader Steve Templeton turned a $77,500 investment in pot stocks into more than $325,000 in about a year. Since much of that profit came from highly volatile marijuana penny stocks, Templeton has seen his fair share of luck — including the prosperous market that defined much of 2013.
But Templeton has also worked out an investment formula that appears to work, as he openly shares with his Twitter followers daily via @PotStocker. We talked with him about his penchant for dabbing, his Smoke and Stash portfolios and three of his favorite marijuana stocks at this very moment.
The Cannabist: You’re a self-taught trader who has made a lot of money via marijuana stocks. How’d you do it?
Steve Templeton: My initial deposit was $2,500. I added $75,000 more throughout the year. And now it’s worth $320,000.
TC: You have the two portfolios of pot stocks, aptly named Smoke and Stash. What’s your strategy with these two portfolios?
ST: Smoke is my working portfolio where I keep and recycle all my cash. Stash is where Smoke goes after graduation. Stash is all the free shares I have been paid to take. I work with Smoke, and I intend to sell Stash after 2020 when weed is legal.
TC: So if you want 1 million of one particular stock …
ST: I’ll buy 2 million of them. And when it goes up in price, I’ll keep the million I made for free and sell the rest. I have 120 different pot stocks now, but I’d like to have all 180 of them.
TC: And you’re keeping your Stash portfolio until 2020?
ST: Sure, I’ll sell my Stash in 2023 and be a damn millionaire.
TC: You’re saying that because you think marijuana will be federally legal then?
ST: I’m sure of it.
TC: You post your good and bad days on Twitter for all to see.
ST: Yep. I made $17,000 yesterday. I’m at $10,000 now for today, and I was at $25,000 earlier. I always ask myself: “Is it lean?” If yes, I buy it. If not, I don’t. But pot never loses. It sells like sex. Weed always wins.
Read the rest of our interview with amateur investor Steve Templeton here
