Steven R. Gormley

Momentum investors (speculators) lean toward technical analysis instead of fundamental analysis when choosing which stocks to buy, when to buy, and when to sell. Investors who rely on technical analysis spend most of their time looking at charts to spot patterns in an attempt to predict the future movement of a stock’s price.

If you’re more interested in cannabis-focused exchange traded funds (ETFs), venture capitalist (VC) funds, or private equity (PE) funds, than you are in individual cannabis stocks, you can find the best tools for tracking down cannabis funds. Most websites and online brokers that feature stock screeners also include an ETF screener, but they rarely include screeners specifically for cannabis ETFs or for VC or PE funds, which makes the Daily Marijuana Observer’s investment fund databases so unique and so useful to you as a cannabis investor.

When discussions arise about the legality of cannabis, they usually revolve around growing it, selling it, or possessing it. However, cannabis laws and the enforcement of those laws also impact the industry, influencing everything from where different cannabis businesses can operate and under what conditions, to the taxes and fees they pay and, ultimately, the cost and availability of the product.

One of the key benefits of the Marijuana Stock Universe and the Daily Marijuana Observer’s database is that they cover a wide range of exchanges and markets on which cannabis stocks are traded, including over-the-counter (OTC) stocks. OTC stocks (many of which are penny stocks, meaning they sell for less than five bucks a share) are stocks that aren’t listed on the major exchanges, such as the New York Stock Exchange, Nasdaq, or the Toronto Stock Exchange.

You’ll find no shortage of investing strategies and schemes online for earning a fortune trading stocks, but no magic formula exists. If such a formula did exist, the person who discovered it probably wouldn’t be so eager to share it or to try to make money selling the “foolproof” technique.You can also find plenty of investment gurus online touting the best cannabis companies or stocks to invest in or predicting what will be the next big thing in cannabis, but can you really trust them?

You’re going to invest in cannabis. Remember that investing in cannabis is risky business. Many people who invested years ago got the jitters, sold their shares, and lost a lot of money. Some people lost money to con artists or well-intentioned friends or family members. Others lost out because they invested in cannabis businesses that didn’t make it.

Spotting investment trends in cannabis is challenging to say the least, and a great many trends have come and gone. For example, just a couple of years ago, vape pens were all the rage. Vape pen companies started popping up everywhere and raising a great deal of capital. Then came the bad news—a number of deaths and hospitalizations were linked to vaping.

If you’re serious about investing in cannabis through trading stocks (or ETFs, commodities, or whatever), charts and the related technical data come in handy. Get to know the different types of charts and chart patterns.Technical analysts use charts to “diagnose” an investment’s situation the same way any analyst uses different tools and approaches.

Whether you decide to place your cannabis investment buy-or-sell orders through a full-service broker or financial advisor, or through an online discount broker, do your research to ensure that the person or firm is competent, reputable, trustworthy, and reliable. Know what to look for in a broker and an advisor and what to watch out for.