The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition that on Thursday, the TSX Venture Exchange released its annual Venture 50, showing the fastest-growing stocks in the Canadian small-cap ranks. The Globe's Tim Shufelt writes that the group of listings, featuring cannabis companies, emerging tech names and junior resource stocks, generated an average return of 94 per cent last year. The average stock in the Canadian large-cap index declined by 13 per cent in what was a difficult year for stocks globally. Traditionally dominated by junior energy and mining companies, the TSX-V's fates have typically been closely aligned with resource prices. The venture exchange is, however, in the midst of what it calls a "revitalization" to try to diversify beyond resources, and the cannabis sector has been central to that effort in recent years. The top-ranked stock in the Venture 50 is Aleafia Health, which operates a chain of medical-marijuana clinics. Aleafia started 2018 with a market capitalization of $26-million and ended the year a $226-million company. Last year, Aleafia announced a $173-million deal to acquire competitor Emblem Corp. If completed, the takeover will result in a network of 40 clinics.