Pot Stocks & ETFs: Top News In The Cannabis Industry For The Week

North American cannabis stocks took a beating this week, with the North American Marijuana Index posting a 27.2 percent loss, largely on the back of poor performance among Canadian stocks.

"The Canadian market collapsed this week after over $1.2 billion of deal offerings from publicly-traded LPs so far in 2018,” 420 Investor Alan Brochstein told Benzinga. “Concerns about the Aphria purchase of Nuuvera perhaps also triggered a loss of confidence by investors in the sector, as it was hard to justify financially, at least based upon the information provided.”

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For its part, the United States Marijuana Index, which tracks 15 of the largest marijuana stocks in the U.S., also slipped, closing the week down 18.1 percent.

“Many of the more speculative names were hit the hardest in the U.S. Traders seemed to be shaken out of the market beginning on the first after piling into names like Hemp Americana, PotNetwork, Rising India, Sunset Island Group and others,” Brochstein said.

Source: United States Marijuana Index

The Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences Index ETF HMLSF lost 29.61 percent. Meanwhile the ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF MJX shed 19.2 percent of its value.

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Here are some of the top marijuana stocks in U.S. exchanges and how the performed this week:

• Aurora Cannabis Inc ACBFF tumbled 36.8 percent
• GW Pharmaceuticals PLC- ADR GWPH slipped 3.8 percent
• Cronos Group Inc PRMCF plummeted 33.75 percent
• Canopy Growth Corp TWMJF lost 31.9 percent
• Cannabis Sativa Inc CBDS took a 13.4 percent dive
• THC Biomed Intl Ltd THCBF closed the week down 38.25 percent
• Aphria Inc APHQF dropped 32.3 percent
• Scotts Miracle-Gro Co SMG plunged 16.2 percent
• MedReleaf Corp MEDFF tumbled 33.75 percent
• CannTrust Holdings Inc CNTTF fell 28.5 percent

• In The News

MassRoots Inc MSRT completed a $4.75 million raise, CEO Isaac Dietrich announced on Thursday.

DOJA Cannabis andTokyo Smoke closed their merger, forming Hiku Brands Company Ltd. DJACF. Hiku is “Canada's first premium cannabis brand house with vertically integrated operations.”

Cannabis lifestyle brand Jane West launched an equity crowdfunding campaign aimed at raising $1.07 million by April 20. Proceeds will be used to support a sales expansion strategy.

New Cannabis Ventures released a new index that tracks Canadian cannabis licensed producers. The Canadian Cannabis LP Index includes 28 stocks, and is down 3.9 percent year-to-date. Check out the components and performance here.

Meanwhile, Green Market Report announced a 30-stock index of its own: the Green Market Report Index. Check out Benzinga’s exclusive coverage of the launch here.

CNVest announced a pitch contest in the context of its April 9 "CNVest: Terps and Tech" event. The winner will get $10,000 in a big-check format. U.S. and Canadian startups in legal medical or recreational cannabis, and hemp markets, are welcome to participate. Companies need to have been founded on or after Jan. 1, 2015; raised at least $50,000, but no more than $1.5 million, from at least one accredited investor; and not closed a Series A funding round​ yet.

Venture capital firm Canopy launched a $50 million venture fund targeting growth stage companies that provide value in the cannabis supply chain.

iAnthus Capital Holdings IncITHUF closed its acquisition of New York-based Citiva Medical and Citiva USA for approximately $18 million. The purchase provides access to New York State’s colossal population of 20 million people.

ABCANN GLOBAL CORP ABCCF announced a $70 million bought deal aimed at the completion of two facilities, among other things.