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Marijuana Stocks Resumed Fall After a Short-Lived Growth Spree

After the recent short-lived growth spree, Canada’s marijuana growers’ stocks fell back to reality, and so the downslide in the sector continued. Investors, who used to feel really upbeat as they anticipated marijuana to be legalized throughout all the U.S. states, now fear that this might not actually happen. Financial scouts believe that the greatest risk now faced by the pot sector is that marijuana sales may be banned under U.S. federal laws. And even though the ban is not really likely to be imposed, investors are slightly wary that it might be passed.
Meanwhile, the good news that might bolster Tilray stock was that the world’s largest brewer AB InBev and Tilray are teaming up to research cannabis-infused beverages through AB InBev’s Ontario-based subsidiary Labatt, with each partner to contribute up to $50 million to the joint venture. Previously, Tilray also announced an exclusive global distribution agreement for medical marijuana with pharmaceutical giant Novartis.
Still, with the stocks back into the bearish territory, we can expect the prices to sink. In the days to come, Canopy Growth (СGС) might slide down to $27.5, with Tilray (TLRY) likely drop to $70, while Aurora Cannabis Inc (ACB) Group and Aphria Inc. (APHA) are likely to slide down to $5, and Cronos might   fall to $10.5.
Ivan Marchena, Libertex Analyst

[Libertex]

Pot Stocks Might Be Up After the Christmas Recess
Canada’s cannabis stocks might grow appreciably after the Christmas trading break. Just before the holiday closing, the pot sector was feeling quite upbeat, with the Aphria Inc NYSE price notching up by a hefty 14% on December 24. The sector has caught the investors’ interest now for multiple reasons. One of them is that the U.S. stock market was brutally downbeat on Christmas Eve, having the worst pre-Christmas day on record. Investors’ being pessimistic about more conventional assets is due to the U.S. political gridlock, with the country’s President Donald Trump not willing to approve the 2019 spending bill without the Mexico border wall funding. As traders get disappointed about the classical investment instruments, they start eyeing more offbeat segments like cannabis and cryptocurrencies (where a pre-Christmas turbulent growth occurred as well). Another driver propelling the cannabis sector upward is the expectations that marijuana might soon become legal throughout the U.S. Should cannabis be legalized federally across the United States, marijuana growers will have a huge market for their produce. And given that the marijuana stocks have been pulled really far back from the October 2018 highs registered after recreational cannabis was legalized in Canada, there’s a really sizeable room for growth for the pot sector. We can expect that after the Christmas Recess in the U.S. Aurora Cannabis Inc (ACB) might grow to $5.5, while Canopy Growth Corp (CGC) might be up to $27, and Cronos Group Inc (CRON) and Aphria Inc (APHA) might climb up to $10.5 and $6, respectively.
Ivan Marchena, Libertex Analyst

[Libertex]

Precious Metals, Marijuana Stocks May Be a Good Choice for Investors for 2019, Cryptocurrencies, Oil Futures To Be Very Volatile.
The upcoming year may bring a lot of unpredictability as far as the market outlook for classical assets is concerned. Stock markets and dollar will continue to face pressure due to the persisting global political tensions and uncertainties like the U.S.-China trade war that has still not been resolved, the oil oversupply fears, and the lack of clarity about further U.S. Federal Reserve stance on the interest rate.
Should the Fed be somewhat back to the accommodative policy and implement fewer rate hikes than planned earlier, the dollar might be headed south.
Meanwhile, more offbeat instruments like cryptocurrencies also do not look too strong and promising. The cryptocurrency market had slumped over 2018, with many bitcoin mining and cryptocurrency companies hurt badly by the downslide. This downward dynamics will probably continue in 2019, as there are no real cues for growth yet.
Marijuana stocks might be of interest to investors now as markets waits for cannabis to be legalized federally throughout the U.S. Should this happen, the post sector stocks will skyrocket.
Precious metals, too, remain a good choice for investors as a safe haven asset to invest into amid volatile market.

Ivan Marchena, analyst of Libertex

[Libertex]

Europe’s Stocks Continue Growing On Weaker Euro
There are some odds for Europe’s stock indices to grow now that the Euro has weakened versus the U.S. dollar, and that investors are waiting for the outcomes of the U.S.-China trade talks.
The exporters’ stocks dynamics are fostered by the weakening EU currency, as companies’ dollar-denominated revenues grow accordingly. The Euro has slid downward on the not too upbeat Euro Area statistics. Financial scouts note that this market sentiment indicator has hit the lowest levels in December 2018 since January 2017.
Investors’ optimism is refuelled by the U.S.-China trade negotiations in Beijing with the U.S. President Donald Trump saying that the talks were “going very well” and “big progress” was being made. The U.S. leader said he hoped that the two countries would be able work out a long-term deal regarding all of the critical issues.
One more thing European investors are waiting to know is what will be the outcome of the UK House of Commons Brexit deal vote slated for January 14. Initially, the vote was scheduled for December 11, but then it was postponed by the UK Prime Minister Theresa May. Now Britain and the EU are racing towards B-day, with the UK to leave the European Union by March 29.
Ivan Marchena, Libertex Analyst

[Libertex]

Financial Scouts: European Investors Apprehensive of the U.S. Government Shutdown, Possible China’s Economic Slowdown Impact

European stock markets continue facing pressures on the U.S. government shutdown and China’s economic outlook related wariness.
The current government shutdown is the longest in the U.S. history. The U.S. federal government has been in a partial shutdown since December 22, 2018 with a slew of key government agencies such as Department of State, Department of Justice and Department of Transportation affected due to the differences between the country’s President Donald Trump and Democrats over funding for the U.S.-Mexico border wall. With great many of the country’s main agencies’ employees not working, the U.S. economy is being hurt really badly, which reverberates onto the global economy overall.
What’s more is that Europe’s investors fear that China’s economy might face challenges, too, with the concerns fuelled by the country’s economic statistics being rather weak lately. The two most downbeat indicators here are the country’s imports and exports that are sliding down on a persisting U.S.-China trade war. And though both countries have made some steps in order to put an end to the situation that is toxic to all parties concerned, there’s still a long way to go until the dispute is finally resolved.
For Europe itself, Brexit remains a burning issue with no deal reached yet, while Britain is slated to leave the EU on March 29 either with or without a deal.


Ivan Marchena, Libertex Analyst

[Libertex]

Marijuana Stocks Grow on Corporate News
Canada’s marijuana growers’ stocks traded in the U.S. markets are growing as they stabilize from a harsh correction. However, in the long run, the pot sector is likely to be affected by the U.S. internal political issues that will hurt the market across the board as well.
The U.S. is now seeing the longest government shutdown on record, with a great number of employees at the country’s key agencies not working since December 22, 2018, which is detrimental to the U.S. national economy and its overall stock market overall.
Contrastingly, Tilray (TLRY) stock grew appreciably, as Privateer Holdings that owns the majority of Tilray's outstanding shares, announced it had no plans to “register, sell or distribute” its holdings “during the first half of 2019”. Given that the stock surged higher and kept on going and going above its IPO price, but then finally were back under $100, and with the upcoming IPO lock-up expiration, investors previously feared that some of the cannabis grower’s stock holders might want to sell it.
Aphria (APHA) stock was hurt by the news that its CEO Vic Neufeld and co-founder Cole Cacciavillani will part ways with the company “over the coming months”, which was counterbalanced by the business’ strong figures as its earnings soared by more than 60%.
Meanwhile, Aurora Cannabis (ACB) was bolstered up as its sales were predicted to grow.
Financial scouts anticipate that, in the offing, Canopy Growth (СGС) and Tilray are likely to jump to $40-$41 and $98-$100, while Aurora Cannabis Inc (ACB), Aphria Inc. and Cronos Group (СRON) are soon to be priced at $7-$7.5, $7.5-$8, and $14-$15, respectively.
Ivan Marchena, Libertex Analyst

[Libertex]

Cannabis Stocks’ Prices Grow on the Upbeat U.S. Cannabis Market Outlook
Canada’s cannabis growers’ stocks traded in the U.S. market have been marching vigorously up since 2018 Farm Bill had made hemp, and thus CBD oil, legal across all of the U.S. states.
This news was followed by Canopy Growth’s (CGC) announcement of its having received a license by the state of New York to grow and process hemp and being set to further spread its roots outside Canada, planning to invest somewhere between $100 million and $150 million into its New York-based operations.
Meanwhile, Aurora Cannabis’ CCO said the cannabis grower will unveil a plan to produce hemp-derived CBD for the U.S. market in the next few months.
Contrastingly, Tilray has stood out negatively, as it slid down by about 10% after the IPO lockup had expired. But on the positive side, Tilray will become the preferred supplier for CBD products for Authentic Brands, which might bolster up the cannabis sector’s heavyweight’s stock prices.
Financial scouts predict that the cannabis sector stocks are set to grow in the days to come, given the bright U.S. cannabis market outlook. Specifically, Canopy Growth and Tilray (TLRY) are likely to trade at $44-$45 and $78-$79, respectively. And Aurora Cannabis’,  Aphria’s (APHA) and Сronos Group’s (CRON) stock’s respective prices are expected to range $7-$7.5, $7.5-$8, and $16-$17.
Ivan Marchena, Libertex Analyst

[Libertex]

Signals Mixed for Europe’s Markets
Financial scouts note that European stock markets now face many incoming cues that are really mixed. The biggest current news on both sides of the spectrum is the Brexit uncertainty and the meaningful progress towards resolving the U.S.-China trade war.
So while the Brexit news make investors feel downbeat with Britain’s withdrawal date very close now and no deal approved yet, the U.S. and China seem to be mending their relationship after the spat. European investors are inspired by the news that the extra-high Chinese imports tariffs might be “reduced and removed”, which is a positive cue for European traders who had previously been worried that the U.S. might introduce new increased on car imports from Europe.
Also, traders in Europe are keeping track of the Davos World Economic Forum news, with some important announcements likely to be made there even though some of the key political figures and leaders like U.S. President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron are not going to Davos this year.
According to financial scouts, another thing that drives Europe’s markets is oil prices that demonstrate ambiguous dynamics. The medium-term positive driver here was the OPEC+ decision to cut the production that was passed in December 2018. So the decreased oil production eased investors’ concerns over possible oil oversupply.
Ivan Marchena, Libertex Analyst

[Libertex]

European Market Sentiment to be Driven by Corporate Reporting Figures, U.S.-China Trade War Resolution Progress

European traders (and investors globally, too) are wary that global economy outlook for the years to come might be gloomy. All of the latest statistics updates flag an impending downturn with leading countries’ economic performances to slow down for the short term at least. This is true for the U.S., Asia, and Europe itself.
Hence, in Europe, all eyes on the U.S.-China trade conflict resolution developments, as the persisting trade spat is a major negative driver for all economies across the globe. But then, there have been some positive cues lately, like U.S. President Donald Trump’s upbeat tweets or comments, suggesting that the trade war may eventually be settled. Mr. Trump is confident that fair trade deal will be reached in one way or another.
Another focus of interest catching the European investors’ attention is the European Bank’s stand on the economic growth outlook both for Europe and globally. Recently, the ECB’s economic growth fears have risen in line with its peers’ economic sentiment pattern.
One more important driver that will shape the European stock market dynamics in the offing is the EU business majors’ quarterly reports that have started to be published. So far, the figures look not too good, making investors feel downbeat.
Ivan Marchena, Libertex Analyst

[Libertex]

Cannabis Growers’ Stock to Continue Along the Upward Path on Investors’ Optimism
Canada’s cannabis producers’ stocks have continued to rise, as investors have been anticipating upbeat developments for the sector. Moreover, there is some really good news to propel particular growers’ stocks higher.
Canopy Growth (СGC) has been the sector’s top performer, as its stock had jumped up by more than 80 percent over the first three weeks of January and skyrocketed by 10 percent last Friday on news that major stock analysts had boosted their views on the cannabis company.
The news that really bolstered Canopy Growth stock was the grower’s management’s announcement of the company’s having received a license by the state of New York to grow and process hemp. Now the cannabis producer is set to invest somewhere between $100 million and $150 million into its New York-based “hemp industrial park” where cannabis research and production operations will be combined.
The good news for Tilray (TLRY) was the Canadian cannabis company’s unveiling the deal to buy Natura Naturals Holdings Inc, that is expected to close within the next 30 days.
Given the investors’ optimism, the cannabis stocks are likely to continue climbing to higher levels. The financial scouts forecast that Canopy Growth (СGС) might climb to $50, and Tilray might grow to $77, while Aurora Cannabis Inc (ACB), Aphria Inc. (APHA) and Cronos are predicted to be priced up to $7, $7.5 and $17-$18, respectively.
Ivan Marchena, Libertex Analyst

[Libertex]

Cannabis producer stocks continue their rally

Increased investor confidence in the future of cannabis is helping shares in Canadian cannabis producers to sustain their rally,  This is true of both the medicinal and recreational-use markets. Additionally, the US's legalisation of hemp has opened up this market to a number of major Canadian producers who see significant changes in US legislation on the horizon.
There was even more good news for Cronos Group with industry heavyweight Altria investing $1.8 billion in the company in return for a 45% stake.
Short-term market sentiment will be determined by the quarterly financial reports of Aurora Cannabis (ACB), Cronos Group and Tilray (TLRY), which are to be published within the next few weeks. Investors will be expecting these producers to report sharp sales growth as a result of the recent increase in market outlets. They will also want to hear about their respective 2019 strategies.
For these reasons, we can expect to see increased volatility in this sector and any remotely significant development could trigger a marked jump or abrupt drop in share prices.
Financial scouts are predicting unit share price rises for the major cannabis producers within the following ranges: Canopy Growth (CGC) - $50-50.5, Cronos Group (CRON) $24-25, and Aphria Inc. - $11-12. Meanwhile, they expect shares in Aurora Cannabis to hit the $8.5-9 mark, with Tilray rising as high as $84-85.

Ivan Marchena, Libertex Analyst

[Libertex]

No discernible pattern to cannabis producer stock movements but general growth likely
Ambiguous news has meant there is no consistent pattern to cannabis producer share movements. For example, shares in Tilray (TLRY) are rising strongly after reports of a deal with Ohio-based Green Growth Brands that will see the Canadian company supply its US partner with CBD.
Aurora Cannabis Inc's (ACB) share price also increased significantly on news that its partner, Radient Technologies, had been granted a cannabis production license by the Canadian authorities. Following this announcement, the company's shares reached their highest level since the sector-wide boom we saw in November of the previous year.
Meanwhile, Canopy Growth Corp (CGC) is showing slightly lower share price growth, with Aphria Inc (APHA) firmly among the market minnows.
Financial scouts forecast that shares in cannabis producers could continue on their relative up-trend into the near future. Tilray's share price could grow to $80-80.5, while Aurora Cannabis Inc's might reach the $8.5-9 mark. Similarly, we could see Canopy Growth Corp hit $47.5-48, with shares in Aphria Inc and Cronos Group Inc (CRON) rising to $10.5-11 and $22-23 respectively.
Ivan Marchena, Libertex Analyst

[Libertex]

Cannabis stocks down on US legalisation doubts

Shares in Canadian cannabis producers are falling amid reports that the New York Department of Health has banned the sale of cannabis in restaurants and bars. Investors now fear that the legalisation of recreational use cannabis in the US is far from certain. Furthermore, the latest figures out of Canada show that the total number of cannabis users did not change significantly following the country's legalisation of the drug in October of last year. The market did however receive some good news in the form of reports suggesting that Thailand is considering decriminalising cannabis. Shares in Canopy Growth Corp (CGC) are demonstrating the best growth in the sector, with investors anticipating the company's entry into the US market. If Canopy Growth succeeds in this ambition, it will most likely "pull up" the shares of some of the smaller players in this sector such as Aphria (APHA), Cronos Group (CRON) and Tilray (TLRY). The latest short-term forecasts from financial scouts predict industry-wide shares growth, with the major players' unit share prices rising to the following levels: Canopy Growth - $46, Tilray - $80, Aurora Canabis Inc (ACB) - $8, Aphria Inc. (APHA) - $10, and Cronos Group - $20.

Ivan Marchena, Libertex Analyst

[Libertex]

European markets await new developments on Brexit and US-Chinese trade relations Optimism regarding a resolution to the trade conflict between the US and China could see European stock markets grow. In other news, market insiders have been demonstrating reduced appetite as stocks undergo somewhat of a correction. Investors are choosing to err on the side of caution until they hear the experts' verdict on the current US-China trade talks. The two countries now have just two weeks left in which to reach a decision before the new higher import tariffs come into effect on 1 March. In the meantime, President Donald Trump has already stated publicly that this 1 March deadline for the introduction of new US tariffs on Chinese products could be postponed in the event that a bilateral agreement is close. Such comments are naturally contributing to increased investor optimism across the world. There was some good news for the European markets, too, in the form of rumours claiming Trump is now prepared to sign off on Congress's budget compromise. The budget includes provisions for the construction of an 88-km-long fence along the US's southern border, allocating $1.4 billion to the project as opposed to the $5.7 originally demanded by Trump. Meanwhile, the issue of Brexit remains the main focus of European investors. The United Kingdom's planned departure from the European Union on 29 March is now just six weeks away and, with no final deal in place, investors appear very restless as they react sharply to any Brexit-related news.

[Libertex]

Investors keeping close watch on US-China trade talks and United States' southern border
Investors in the Latin American stock markets are awaiting a decisive solution to the US-China trade conflict with bated breath.
For the time being, however, they remain cautious and are adopting a position of restrained optimism until the result of the talks becomes clear.
High level meetings between the sides are scheduled to take place as early as 21 February and will feature representatives including the Vice Premier of the State Council of the PRC.
Meanwhile, world oil prices are holding steady at their local maximums — which are high now that fears of a supply surplus have been assuaged — and this is benefiting the Latin American market.
The decision by the OPEC nations to reduce their output volumes coupled with the effect of US sanctions on Iran and Venezuela had a similar calming effect.
Elsewhere, financial scouts in Mexico are also carefully monitoring the situation along the US's southern border.
Trump had previously demanded that Congress allocate $5.7 billion dollars for the construction of the President's wall. When this was denied, a number of government departments refused to sign off on the budget for over a month, which resulted in a country-wide institutional shutdown.
In the end, the US Congress passed a budget which provided for just $1.4 billion in funding for a wall along the US-Mexico border. Trump responded by issuing a national emergency order to combat illegal immigration from Mexico and criminality on the US's southern border. This declaration means that the US President will now be able to access up to $8 billion in funds for his wall.
Vadim Kovalenko, Libertex Financial Scout