I’m a beginner programmer learning Python.

I have a list:

etfs = ['qqq', 'spy', 'xle', 'xlf', 'xli', 'xlk', 'gld', 'iwm']

which I use to read a MySQL database in a loop.

I have another function where I want to use this list without the single quotations ”.
Is there an easy way for me to strip the ” from each element in this list and create another list from that?

For example

etfs = ['qqq', 'spy', 'xle', 'xlf', 'xli', 'xlk', 'gld', 'iwm']

to

etf_2 = [qqq, spy, xle, xlf, xli, xlk, gld, iwm].

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I’ve tried using strip, remove, and a wide variety of other methods, but I’m not getting any result.
The only way I’ve managed something similar is using print and sep, but I don’t want to print, I want to create another list.