The Financial Post reports in its Monday, Jan. 30, edition that at least eight Canadian marijuana stocks had returns in the triple digits last year, sparking talk about a bubble. The Post's Sunny Freeman writes that Canaccord Genuity analyst Neil Maruoka says that talk is overblown. He says, "When we look at the valuations across the board, it's beginning to price in the rec market, undoubtedly the rec market opportunity is so huge and it certainly hasn't priced in 100 per cent of that as of yet." Mr. Marouka says while the medical market is quite small, currently about 100,000 patients, it has the potential to reach about 700,000. That demand accounts for about 200,000 kilograms of marijuana production each year. Mr. Marouka notes, "But there's 450,000 kilograms that's smoked annually in an illicit recreational market and the existing public companies are capturing some portion of that value because investors are looking ahead and saying, 'This is coming.'" In the meantime, the independent investment companies, well versed in doing deals for riskier entrepreneurs and small businesses, are content to be reaping the revenues from being the only bankers in the market. In August alone, there were five big deals.