Canadian equity strategists may have spent New Year’s Eve eating crow, as not even the most bearish outlook foresaw what turned out to be the worst year for stocks since 2008.

That hasn’t stopped them from predicting double-digit gains for 2019.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index will end 2019 at 16,644, 16 per cent above its 2018 closing level, according to the average of eight estimates compiled by Bloomberg. That would be the biggest increase since 2016, when stocks gained 18 per cent.

The year 2018 has come and gone. For most publicly traded companies, it was a bad year. But a handful of businesses and individuals stood out from the crowd and had great runs in the year that passed. Similar to Apple Inc during the late 2000s recession, there are always stocks that become runaway bulls in bear markets. Despite the TSX losing 15% of its value last year, there were a surprising number of stock market successes in the same 12-month period.

In this article I’ll be chronicling five of them–starting with one whose fortunes may not look rosy this year, but had a great run in the last.

In 2018, pot reached a tipping point. A clear majority of Americans now wants to see the drug made fully legal. California and Canada began selling marijuana to anyone over 21.

For those who follow the marijuana stock market, it’s clear that Canada has been leading the charge since they legalized the use of recreational cannabis. After October 17th, the day Canada began allowing sales of adult-use cannabis, many stocks were able to come to fruition.

Since that time, there have been a series of new supply agreements and international movements. All of this has helped to cement Canada’s spot at the top of the marijuana industry. Many large investments into the industry have made headlines in the past several months as billions of dollars continue to flow into the market.

Alberta ‘well ahead’ of rest of Canada in cannabis retail: Notley

The marijuana industry has had an absolutely game-changing year in 2018. Canada became the first industrialized country in the world to green-light recreational marijuana, and a handful of U.S. states legalized cannabis in some capacity. In other words, the pot industry gained validity like never before.

According to investment bank Cowen & Co., the legal weed market could be worth as much as $75 billion by 2030. That would suggest there's plenty of opportunity for investors to make money over the long run from both direct and ancillary players. Although the legal cannabis market is still exceptionally young and unproven, here -- in no particular order -- are 12 pot-growing stocks you should be watching in 2019.

"Safe" and "marijuana stocks" are words you usually don't find in the same sentence, and for good reason. Marijuana stocks are characterized by high risk and volatility. 

However, not all marijuana stocks are alike and some have considerably less risk than others. These investments are not guaranteed wins, as no stock meets the absolute safety criteria. But relatively speaking, these marijuana stocks are safer picks than their peers. Here's what you need to know about five of the safest marijuana stocks for 2019.

Often, when analysts or bloggers talk up the potential of marijuana stocks, the focus is on the consumer side of the industry. But some of the best stocks in the pot sector may be medical marijuana stocks.

Indeed, it’s on the medical side where growth likely is to be largest in the near term.

Canada did legalize recreational marijuana in October, but investors promptly sold the news in response. U.S. legalization is likely to be a long slog. Attitudes are mixed in Europe — but even in legalized markets anywhere, black market (and untaxed) operators will be able to take share.

The marijuana industry had a groundbreaking, yet odd, 2018, with history made at seemingly every turn and most investors ultimately disappointed.

A year of highs and buzzkills

On one hand, the cannabis industry gained legitimacy like never before. That's because Canada tore down the curtain on nine decades of recreational marijuana prohibition and became the first industrialized country in the world to legalize adult-use weed. Given a few years, the Canadian legal cannabis industry could be generating $5 billion in added annual sales as a result of this legalization.

Global Marijuana Vaporizer Consumption Market 2018 report focuses on the major drivers and restraints for the global key players. It also provides analysis of the market share, segmentation, revenue forecasts and geographic regions of the market.

The Marijuana Vaporizer Consumption market report is an extensive analysis of this business sphere, that has been touted to be one of most profitable business verticals in recent times. The study enumerates the total valuation of this business space currently, in addition to presenting a succinct segmentation of the industry, the expansion opportunities, as well as its regional expanse.

What does this report cover?

Market Drivers & Challenges