Fortitude Group, Inc. (OTCMKTS:FRTD) Further Depressed on Friday

For more than a week, the marijuana sector, taken as a whole, has flatlined, though separate tickers still make a significant spike, or drop, here and there. Fortitude Group, Inc. (OTCMKTS:FRTD) deepened the pessimistic trend of last week, shedding another 28% last Friday, to stand at $0.0308, on dollar volumes above $1.32 million.

FRTD is sinking from its peak despite the updates around its effort to transform itself into a seller of electronic vaporizers. Not even the news of a large order of 5000 units was enough to take this company out of the general dark mood for MMJ stocks. In addition, FRTD is revving up its website efforts, planning to launch the Affinity Black Card, a specialty payment mode for users of legal marijuana products. Unfortunately, we can’t know when the big launch will happen, or if the news will be able to stave off a further drop in prices.

Now, the new week is a perfect opportunity for FRTD to come up with more material updates, and perhaps rise on sheer optimism and bargain buying. Also, the new period will have to show if the MMJ market has recovered from the shock of suspended stocks, which marred last week’s mood.

Investors’ forums are quite aware that all of the new product promises of FRTD look rather dubious. MariMist, one of the medical cannabis options, is still not tested, as promised. According to filings, the trademark was officially protected only last week, on April 7th. There are no records for the VaporVite brand.

Instead, FRTD has until April 20th to deliver at least some of the VaporVite products, for which investors truly doubt the actual existence. The photos of this product reveal a rather ugly and bulky electronic vaporizer, landing into a market already tightly supplied with similar devices and re-purposed electronic cigarettes.

In the case of FRTD, we still can’t measure the financial backing for the switch to cannabis business- the latest 10-Q was filed all the way back in 2010. But this is just another red flag in the series. Despite this, the new week may open opportunities for new hype through PR, which would be quite artificial, but could still create an appealing run-up for the still rather low stock price.

Not even the leading e-cig ticker, mCig, Inc. (OTCBB:MCIG) was immune to the pessimism. MCIG has been climbing in general, though with days of setbacks that wipe out some of the gains. With its relatively higher price, currently at $0.63, MCIG is not so easily accessible, but at least it has regular exposure through its participation in the Marijuana index.

VaporBrands Int’l Inc. (OTCMKTS:VAPR) had a different story, touching a peak at $0.40, but later sliding down to $0.16, as investors became tired of waiting for yet another revolutionary electronic cigarette.

If you are still interested in following FRTD to an eventual day of gains in the coming week, it is best to be aware of the deep potential for cuts, as much as 40% in a day. Avoid over-investing, especially in a company that is offering such shaky, unproven brands and products.