So, you want to open up a pot shop.

Perhaps you’re a shopkeeper at heart, drawn to a rare bright spot in a retail landscape mired in doom-and-gloom. Maybe you missed out on the first phase of the green gold rush and you’re looking to make your mark on this (literal) growth industry, knowing it’s a sector where consumers have indicated a preference for buying in-person rather than online. Or maybe you’ve just heard that Canadians bought $85 million dollars’ worth of legal cannabis in May of this year and want your own piece of that green.

Is Canopy Growth (TSX:WEED)(NYSE:CGC) heading into freefall? The stock fell by 14.4% to $36.41 after the largest cannabis producer reported $1.28 billion losses in the first quarter of fiscal 2020 ended June 30, 2019. It was a far cry from the $90 million loss in Q1 of fiscal 2019.

Likewise, Canopy’s operating loss rose by 300.65% to $123 million in the June quarter compared with the same quarter a year ago. The latest earnings result is a sign that Canopy would not be profitable anytime soon.

It seems investors have no patience with unprofitable pot stocks at the moment. Staring down a recession while sitting on potentially overvalued pot stocks is not a comfortable position to stay in for too long, and with the sell-off in cannabis stocks on the TSX in the last few weeks, it would appear that shareholders have finally decided that enough is enough, with very few exceptions.

With signs that both China and Germany could be facing their own recessions, investors all over the world are facing some tough decisions. Two questions are on every stock investor’s lips at the moment: Should you sell, and what should you hold on to if you stay in the game?

Let’s take a look at which Canadian cannabis stocks are on the move amid a growing storm of market stressors.

CannTrust Holdings Inc. (TRST.TO 3.58%), the Canadian pot company that’s plunged more than half this year after it breached regulations, said Ontario’s cannabis wholesaler is returning its products.

The Ontario Cannabis Store, the government corporation in charge of wholesale distribution to licensed retailers and operator of the province’s online store, has elected to return all or substantially all of CannTrust products because they are “non-conforming.” The products are valued at about $2.9 million, CannTrust said in a statement Monday.

Health Canada hasn’t ordered a recall of any products, according to CannTrust.

Do you want to double your investment in one year? With the sudden rise of the marijuana industry, this is now a possibility. The full-blown legalization of the weed industry in Canada has made many investors wealthy. The result is a whole new set of promising stocks for you to take advantage of.

Despite the soaring popularity of weed stocks, however, the process of legalization has not been without its setbacks. Things in the marijuana industry seem to be looking up, and the future is promising. However, these are still relatively uncharted waters, and you need to be careful where you place your bets to help you win big.

Several cannabis stocks have created significant wealth for investors. Aurora Cannabis has returned 1175% in the last five years, while Canopy Growth is up 1400% since August 2014. Tilray went public in July 2018 and has gained just 10%, while Cronos Group is up 1900% since December 2014.

But past returns mean nothing for a potential investor. How does one select the perfect stock to buy and hold for the long-term? Here is where the Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences ETF (TSX:HMMJ) comes into play. It has a basket of top cannabis stocks and diversifies investor risk.

Indiva and TerrAscend partner to manufacture and process high-quality cannabis oil for TerrAscend patients and consumers

Harvest Health & Recreation (OTC: HRVSF) reported second-quarter results on Aug. 15. The vertically integrated marijuana dispensary saw revenue rise 39% sequentially to $26.6 million.

Shares of cannabis stocks large and small were beaten down after soft second-quarter results disappointed investors expecting soaring sales of recreational cannabis in Canada that haven't materialized. As a result, some of the world's largest cannabis companies have stock prices miles below their peaks. 

Has the market already pulled these cannabis kings down as far as it can, or could they sink even lower? Here's what to look for from each one of these formerly high-flying marijuana stocks. 

Last Friday was the entry deadline for Ontario’s second cannabis retail license lottery. Applicants won’t know until Tuesday whether they’re among the winners. Unfortunately, there’s much else they and provincial taxpayers don’t know, because the Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS) keeps it all secret.

OCS, also called the Ontario Cannabis Retail Corp., is a provincial crown corporation under the Ministry of Finance. It holds a legal monopoly on online recreational cannabis sales in Ontario. It’s also the sole supplier to privately owned cannabis stores.