Two of the most important qualities to succeed in the stock market are patience and good timing. Patience is important to help investors through tough times, and good timing is essential for investors to know when to pull the trigger on a purchase or a sale.

Those who have invested in Aphria Inc (TSX:APHA)(NYSE:APHA) — and stuck with it through the drama it has experienced over the past nine months — have certainly shown a great deal of patience. However, for those investors on the outside looking in, is now a good time to pull the trigger?

British Columbia has been famous for its bud since long before legalization, but another province is beating it in terms of cannabis sales and retailers.

Since October 17—the day pot was made legal nation-wide—cannabis sales have been higher in Alberta than in any other Canadian province.

What Makes Alberta Different?

One notable difference between Alberta and its western neighbor is the age at which people can begin buying weed. Like most provinces, BC made 19 the legal age for purchasing and consuming cannabis, the same as the age for alcohol. Alberta’s legal drinking age, however, is lower by one year, so Albertans can experiment with both alcohol and cannabis starting at 18—just in time to get into Pink Floyd.

After a red-hot start to the year, marijuana stocks have been steadily retreating over the past two months. Weaker-than-expected earnings from some of the top players and over-the-top valuations have taken a hefty toll on the industry of late. 

Cannabis stocks had a tough start to the week, with more lossese on Tuesday across North American markets.

The North American Marijuana Index, which tracks the top cannabis stocks in the US and Canada, dropped 1.2% to 229.4 points on Tuesday. The Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences Index ETF was down 1.1% to C$17.7. The OTCQX Cannabis Index slipped 2% at 709.6 points.

Buds

Martello Technologies Group Inc (CVE:MTLO) (OTCMKTS:DRKOF) stock continued to soar Tuesday, up 21.8% at C$0.95 in Toronto, up 39.3% at US$0.71. 

Cannabis is legal for recreational purposes in 11 states around the nation. And along with that legal framework comes rules about how or when you can drive while under the influence of cannabis.

When each state legalized cannabis, many simply tacked cannabis on to their existing rules about driving under the influence of alcohol, with cannabis DUIs garnering the same penalties as alcohol DUIs. 

Like alcohol, cannabis impairs skills commonly associated with safe driving, like quick reflexes and divided attention. At the moment, though, research into how much cannabis impairs a driver and methods for accurately testing how much marijuana a driver is currently under the influence of are very limited.

The global cannabis market is no doubt an exciting one, and there are many companies auditioning for your investment dollars. Cannabis stocks range from penny stocks to multi-billion-dollar global companies, so there's quite a lot to choose from when thinking about how to play the space.

The Town of Espanola could soon be host to Northern Ontario’s second commercial cannabis growing operation by the spring of 2020.

Sudbury-based GaiaCann Inc. is out to make a global name for itself in the medical marijuana business with a sizeable and scalable development in the northeastern Ontario paper mill town, 40 minutes west of Sudbury.

Their ambitious expansion plans over the next two to three years are already underway with construction started on a first-phase cultivation and extraction facility, located on the southeast corner of the community. 

Cannabis stocks fell across the board Tuesday, led by CannTrust Holdings Inc. in its continued response to the news that the Canadian regulator has seized its cannabis after finding it was growing in unlicensed rooms.

BMO Capital Markets became the latest house to downgrade the stock, lowering it to market perform from outperform.

“It is unclear how the company would have commenced cultivation in unlicensed rooms and we are surprised by this development and the inability of CannTrust’s internal operational controls to prevent this,” analysts Tamy Chen and Peter Sklar wrote in a note to clients.

TruTrace Technologies Inc (CSE:TTT) (OTC:TTTSF) is weaving in cannabis testing facility A&L Canada Labs to its medical cannabis verification pilot program with Shoppers Drug Mart.

A&L Canada Labs will be one of the inaugural testing facilities at Shoppers locations. The program is built around TruTrace’s StrainSecure platform, which can verify the origin, authenticity and quality assurance of cannabis products.

If you’ve been a frequent reader of my articles, you’ll know that I’ve long been bullish on two marijuana penny stocks in particular: HEXO Corp (NYSEAMERICAN:HEXO) and OrganiGram Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:OGI).

Investors who have been following my stock reporting since the beginning may have seen huge gains that doubled or even tripled their money. But lately, these marijuana penny stocks have had a tougher time of it.

As can be seen above, year-to-date these stocks have been very strong indeed. Both HEXO stock and OGI stock are up big in the first half of 2019. But it’s also impossible to miss that since the summer began in June, these companies have taken a beating.