YOLO - The 1 Marijuana ETF Investors Haven't Given Up On
Marijuana stocks had a tough 2019, suffering big losses as cannabis companies largely disappointed investors with their performance in the aftermath of Canada's legalization of recreational marijuana in late 2018. Competitive pressures and challenges in rolling out a retail presence in the Canadian market sent many big-name marijuana stocks sharply lower, especially in the second half of the year.
Given the tough environment, it's no surprise that marijuana ETFs struggled as well. Yet even though the performance of the top exchange-traded funds covering cannabis stocks was poor, there's one sign that most investors still haven't given up on the cannabis industry as a potential gold mine for future wealth -- or on the prospects for ETFMG Alternative Harvest (NYSEMKT: MJ) to bounce back from its tough times.
Many investors look to ETFs to help them diversify against risk, and they can be quite effective in defending against bad news that hits one particular company harder than the rest. But even ETFs can't protect against a downtrend that affects an entire sector, and that's mostly what the cannabis industry faced in 2019.