If you'd invested in: GW Pharmaceuticals and Trinity Mirror

published 18 November 2016

GW Pharmaceuticals (LSE:GWP) is a UK-based biopharmaceutical company making medicine from cannabis. Its headline product is Sativex, used to treat pain and other symptoms in patients with multiple sclerosis. It is also developing a drug to treat children with epilepsy, which is currently undergoing phase III trials. The latest annual report showed a pre-tax loss of £57m on revenue of £28.5m. Nevertheless, investors are enthusiastic the share price is up by almost 90% in the last year.

Be glad you didn't

Trinity Mirror (LSE: TNI) is the country's biggest newspaper, magazine and digital publisher, with more than 260 titles. Like many other publishers, Trinity Mirror is feeling the pinch as print sales decline, advertising revenue dries up and online operations fail to pay their way. The company is cutting costs by consolidating editorial teams and closing unprofitable titles. But profits and revenue continue to fall, and they have been followed by the share price, which is down by more than 50% in the last year.

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Ben studied modern languages at London University's Queen Mary College. After dabbling unhappily in local government finance for a while, he went to work for The Scotsman newspaper in Edinburgh. The launch of the paper's website, scotsman.com, in the early years of the dotcom craze, saw Ben move online to manage the Business and Motors channels before becoming deputy editor with responsibility for all aspects of online production for The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday and the Edinburgh Evening News websites, along with the papers' Edinburgh Festivals website.

Ben joined MoneyWeek as website editor in 2008, just as the Great Financial Crisis was brewing. He has written extensively for the website and magazine, with a particular emphasis on alternative finance and fintech, including blockchain and bitcoin.

As an early adopter of bitcoin, Ben bought when the price was under $200, but went on to spend it all on foolish fripperies.