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

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

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

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

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

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

Pot Stocks’ Fall Continues, As Marijuana Market Corrects to Fair Levels

Cannabis stocks continue their fall as they move deeper into the bearish territory and farther away from the October peaks. After the boom coming on the back recreational marijuana legalization, the stocks now go back down to fair levels.
As marijuana market is massively driven by speculation with its stock prices overinflated, the current prices have been too far from real, with the stocks overbought. Many investors have painted too rosy a picture about the sector’s companies, expecting sales to skyrocket and yield super profits. In fact, many of cannabis producers failed to have a clear and effective business plans, and the expectations of the continuing blasting growth have never become a reality.

Meanwhile, some major cannabis growers like Canopy Growth and Tilray do better than the rest of the segment, even after quite significant segment-wide price sag occurring last week. That said, the two companies’ stock may be good enough to buy for the long-term. A good thing for Tilray, and a long-term catalyst for its stock, is that it might get an appreciable share of the US marijuana market as planned, if cannabis is legalized throughout the US. Meanwhile, Canopy’s strengths are its production scale and market size.

It is likely that the pot sector will continue to lose ground in the week to come. Canopy Growth (СGС) price is expected to drop to $25-$27, Tilray (TLRY) will be down at $95-$97, while Aurora Cannabis Inc (ACB) and Cronos Group (CRON) are to be priced $3.8-$4 and $9.8-$10, respectively. Aphria Inc. (APHA) stands out with its price really very volatile going 20% up or down intraday. And it looks like this will continue with the price to steadily range from $5 to $5.5.

Ivan Marchena, Libertex Analyst

Libertex trading platform adds 5 CFDs on cannabis shares
Libertex has added five new contracts for difference (CFDs) to its trading platform. Starting from December 11th, 2018, traders using our cross-channel platform will be able to trade with the five hottest instruments, which represent the world’s most popular companies operating in the growing sphere of marijuana production and processing.
CFDs on the following shares are now available in Libertex:
•   Tilray,
•   Canopy Growth,
•   Aphria,
•   Cronos Group,
•   Aurora Cannabis.
Libertex CEO Michael Geiger said: “Marijuana is fast growing sector in Canada and in the US after having recently been legalized for medical and recreational purposes. This has led to a speedy increase in the amount of companies that now grow weed or produce medical products from the plant. Now, an influx in traders seek ways to include these assets into their trading portfolio. We are pleased to be able to satisfy the demand for these financial instruments and add CFDs for the most interesting stocks within the Libertex trading platform.”
About Libertex:
Libertex is an international brand with more than twenty year experience in financial markets and online commerce. Libertex provides investors with access to trade stocks, currencies, indices, commodities, gold, oil, gas and many other financial instruments. The Libertex team has more than 2,200,000 customers in Latin America, Europe and Asia owing to its first-class service. The platform has more than 150 commercial instruments. In 2016, Libertex was recognized by the Forex EXPO Awards as the best trading platform; and Global Banking and Finance Review named it the best trading application in the EAEU. In 2017, the Forex Awards named Libertex the best trading application and cryptocurrency broker.