Pot Stocks & ETFs: This Week's Top News In The Cannabis Industry

Cannabis stocks plummeted last week, after the Jeff Sessions panic spurred by the repeal of the Cole Memo, an Obama-era memorandum that has essentially protected state-legal cannabis businesses from federal prosecution. The tumble was short lived, though, as evidenced by the rebound seen in the U.S. Marijuana Index last Friday, and this weeks first couple of days.

The index did experience a decline toward the end of this week, falling 2.8 percent Friday, but the move was moderate when compared to last weeks selloff.

Also witnessing a drop between Wednesday and Friday, inclusive, were the Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences Index ETF(TSE:HMMJ), as it mimics the aforementioned index, and the ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF (NYSE:MJX). Over the whole week, the indices lost 10 percent and 7.87 percent, respectively.

Source: United States Marijuana Index

Lets take a look at the indexes top components:

Aurora Cannabis Inc (OTC:ACBFF) lost more than 21.7 percent
Canopy Growth Corp (OTC:TWMJF) slipped 5.4 percent
Aphria Inc (OTC:APHQF) tumbled almost 13.8 percent
GW Pharmaceuticals PLC- ADR (NASDAQ:GWPH) dropped just 1.1 percent
MedReleaf Corp (OTC:MEDFF) fell over 21.3 percent
Scotts Miracle-Gro Co (NYSE:SMG) surprisingly ended the week up 0.3 percent
Cronos Group Inc (OTC:PRMCF) declined 22.1 percent
CannTrust Holdings Inc (OTC:CNTTF) took a 10.4 percent dive

Benzinga reached out to Green Market ReportCEO Debra Borchardt, who shared her highlights for the week.

On the earnings front, Aphria announced second quarter revenue of C$8.5 million ($6.8 million), up from C$5.2 million($4.16 million) in the same quarter last year. Delivering an impressive performance, the company posted a 50 percent increase in gross profit, from C$4.12 million ($3.3 million) a year ago to C$6.2 million ($5 million) this year.

On the financing side of things, the most relevant transaction came from MedReleaf, which announced a $100 million deal with Canaccord Genuity and GMP Securities L.P.Proceeds will be used to buy and build new cannabis cultivation and manufacturing facilities.

Image Credit:Javier Hasse