Junior Canadian cannabis stocks are red hot to start 2019—but can it last? While it’s obviously too early to draw conclusions, the dichotomy between the beginning of this year and last is quite pronounced.

Backtracking to begin 2018, almost everything went up in unitary fashion. Tier-1, mid-major, junior and micro-caps all rode the M&A wave sweeping the sector via Aurora Cannabis’hostile takeover bid of CanniMed Therapeutics. Newstrike Brands—the junior immersed in it all—rocketed up ↑526.78% in six sessions from January 2-9, 2018. The blow-off top the would soon follow would become the second iteration of the Canadian cannabis bubble.

Expansion of existing cannabis grow facilities and construction projects for brand-new greenhouses continue at a breakneck pace in Canada following the legalization of recreational marijuana.

The marijuana industry had what can only be described as an odd year in 2018. In one sense, it gained legitimacy like never before with Canada choosing to legalize recreational marijuana, and a handful of U.S. states also giving cannabis the green light in some capacity.

Then again, after years of big gains, marijuana stock investors weren't able to participate in this good news in 2018. Most pot stocks ended the year lower by a double-digit percentage, with some losing more than half of their value.

A war is raging within the confines of America's northern neighbor, Canada. A marijuana war. Canada's decision to legalize recreational marijuana use among adults last year sparked a flood of licensing applications to Health Canada to grow, sell, and perform research on cannabis. At the end of 2018, for example, the agency reported a whopping 132 companies with licenses already in hand to cultivate marijuana and several hundred more applications currently under review. 

The marijuana industry is coming off what could arguably be described as its greatest year in history. Last year, we witnessed Canada become the first industrialized country in the world to legalize recreational cannabis, and saw a handful of significant advances in the U.S., be it through the legalization of hemp and hemp-based cannabidiol, the approval of the very first cannabis-derived drug, or the continued legalization of medical or recreational weed at the state level.

The 2018 year in cannabis was quite up and down in terms of volatility for the majority of the large stocks in the industry. As we inch into 2019, it seems as though marijuana stocks with lower levels of volatility may be the way to go. Of course, these picks are for the safer investor and for those who day trade, stocks with larger fluctuations may be a better choice.

Marijuana penny stocks are up and down this morning on the TSXV. While some are seeing slight losses today, there are others that are kicking off 2019 strong. Today, we’ll take a look at a pair of penny stocks that are making a strong push early in the year, Namate Technologies (TSXV:N) and Canopy Rivers (TSXV:RIV).

Watching Canadian marijuana stocks has become something of a fixture on the global investment scene — though doing so while actually being invested in them has caused more than a few pulses to raise, hands to sweat, and mouths to go dry. While the TSX index is undeniably still pretty young compared to other stock markets, you can be sure that nobody has seen anything quite like the legal pot stock phenomenon that’s been roiling Bay Street.

Let’s take a look at how two frontrunners fared over Christmas.

Cannabis stocks had a banner year in 2018. And thanks to a surfeit of landmark developments -- such as the legalization of recreational marijuana in Canada, Mexico's slow but steady march toward legalization, and Thailand's decision to suddenly decriminalize medical marijuana at the tail end of the year -- this emerging growth industry appears to be on solid footing heading into 2019.

The marijuana industry produced about as bifurcated a year as investors could have imagined in 2018. By the time the curtain closed, validity had been gained like never before, but pot stocks had been absolutely leveled.