Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Don’t Let Trump Scare You Away From the Investing Opportunity of a Lifetime

By Justin Spittler

Men with machine guns walked the streets. They rode in the backs of trucks. They posted out in front of restaurants and at busy intersections. These men weren’t thugs or criminals. They were federal police officers. They were there to keep the peace and to make you feel safe.

But all they really did was remind you that you were in a country that’s been at war for decades. I saw this firsthand two weeks ago in Mexico City. Apparently, it’s the norm. You might not be surprised by this. After all, everyone knows that Mexico’s been fighting a bloody drug war for years, one that’s claimed more than 80,000 lives since 2006.

Of course, I didn’t write this article to tell you what you already know. I wrote it because Mexico is radically rethinking how it fights its drug war. Eventually, this should save thousands of lives, transform Mexico’s economy and lead to a huge moneymaking opportunity for us. I’ll explain what I mean in a second. But you first have to understand how Mexico got this way.

Drug cartels have been terrorizing Mexico for years.…
No one understands this better than Vicente Fox. Fox was the president of Mexico from 2000 to 2006. He's seen the carnage of Mexico’s drug war firsthand. Because of this, you’d think he would be a huge drug opponent. But he’s actually one of the world’s biggest legal marijuana advocates. According to Fox, drug legalization is the only way to end the violence of Mexican drug cartels. It looks like Fox could finally get his wish, too.

Last month, Mexico’s Congress passed a bill to legalize medical marijuana.…
Reuters reported on April 28:
The measure passed in a general floor vote with 371 in favor, seven against and 11 abstentions, and now classifies the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) as "therapeutic."
The bill is now on President Enrique Peña Nieto’s desk. And there’s a good chance he’ll sign it.
After all, Peña Nieto said last April that drug use should be treated as a “public health problem” rather than a criminal matter.

In other words, Mexico is a signature away from legalizing medical marijuana.…
It could soon even legalize marijuana outright. After all, Peña Nieto proposed a bill last year that would allow Mexicans to carry up to an ounce of marijuana. Not only that, Mexico’s Supreme Court has already granted four people the right to grow marijuana for their own recreational consumption.

This is a big deal. For years, Mexico tried to align its drug policies with those of the United States. But that approach has failed miserably. Mexico now realizes that it cannot win its drug war by fighting fire with fire. If it’s going to defeat the cartels, it’s going to have to beat them at their own game.

Mexico isn’t the only major country rethinking its stance on marijuana, either.…
Canada legalized medical marijuana back in 2001. It’s now in the process of legalizing recreational marijuana nationwide. The new law, which was passed on April 13, will go into effect on July 1, 2018. That’s right. Next summer, you’ll be able to visit a store in Canada and legally buy a joint. Of course, most Casey readers don’t live in Mexico or Canada. They live in the United States, where marijuana is still illegal at the federal level. The U.S. government actually considers marijuana more dangerous than cocaine or methamphetamine. It’s completely absurd.

The good news is that this idiotic stance on marijuana probably won’t stand much longer.…
After all, 29 states along with Washington D.C. have already legalized medical marijuana. Not only that, eight states and D.C. have legalized recreational marijuana. This tells us the perception toward marijuana is changing. Of course, skeptics will tell you that the Trump administration hates marijuana. And they have a point. After all, Attorney General Jeff Sessions is on record saying that marijuana is “only slightly less awful” than heroin.

That has a lot of investors scared to invest in the U.S. marijuana industry. But if you've been reading the Dispatch, you know there’s a huge opportunity here…one that's only going to get bigger. You see, the North American marijuana industry is already a $7 billion market. By 2021, it’s going to be a $20 billion market. Eventually, it could grow into a $200 billion industry. In short, the market is growing like crazy. It’s generating hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue. And it’s already created thousands of new jobs. It would make absolutely no sense for Trump to shut it down.

If you’re bullish on the marijuana industry like I am, here’s what you can do today.…
If you live in Canada (or have access to the Toronto Stock Exchange), consider buying the Horizons Medical Marijuana Life Sciences ETF (HMMJ.TO), Canada’s only pot ETF. This fund invests in 16 marijuana companies. Some of them are “pure breed” pot stocks. Others are companies that serve the industry. Overall, it’s a diversified and relatively safe way to invest in the booming North American pot market.

If you do buy it, just remember that pot stocks are highly volatile. So treat this as a speculation. Only bet money you can afford to lose. You should have a long term perspective. Plan to hold it for a few years. Don’t lose sleep over its day to day moves. Unfortunately, the U.S. doesn't have its own marijuana ETF yet. But that could change soon.

Cambria Investment Management already plans to launch its own marijuana ETF.…
According to ETF.com, the fund will be called the Cambria Marijuana Industry ETF (TOKE). It will be actively managed and hold 20 to 50 of the world’s top marijuana companies. I’ll be sure to let you know when this fund goes live. Until then, use extreme discipline if you decide to buy individual U.S. pot stocks.

Understand that these companies are startups. They’re unproven. Not only that, many are “penny stocks.” This means that they trade over the counter and aren’t subject to the same financial reporting standards as companies that trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

P.S. If you’re thinking about buying pot stocks, I also encourage you to invest alongside an industry expert. That’s where Extraordinary Technology editor Chris Wood comes in. Chris, as regular readers know, has been extensively researching the marijuana industry.

Last month, he recommended what he says is "the one marijuana stock you should buy today.” But this company isn’t your typical pot stock. It’s really a biotech company that serves the marijuana industry.

You can learn all about this company, which trades on the New York Stock Exchange, by signing up for Extraordinary Technology today. Click here to begin your risk-free trial.

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