The ALR market is booming, representing a major boost to Monaker Group, Inc. (OTCQB: MKGI) and its successful integration of ALR booking with the traditional travel market. ALR (alternative lodging rental) is the industry moniker used to describe the practice of travelers and vacationers renting homes from private owners rather than utilizing traditional lodging such as hotels. Various forms of this simple practice of linking private homeowners with travelers to secure accommodations has been in practice for centuries. Throughout history, it was common for homeowners to rent space in their homes to weary travelers. Most of the time, private homes were the only accommodations available, and word of mouth identified homeowners willing to rent. Some homes ultimately morphed into full-time hotels, and a delineation occurred between public and private accommodations. Over time, renting directly from homeowners waned as travelers relied on traditional hotels for lodging. It all changed again with the advent of the internet and the ingenious creation of global platforms to link homeowners with those seeking lodging. The ALR market has since exploded, and the number of users just keeps growing. Homeowners and travelers both benefit, while the platform providers generate enormous revenues.

Numerous competitors have sprung up since the inception of alternative lodging rental platforms. Airbnb, HomeAway, Priceline, VRBO and FlipKey are some of the more recognizable names, with multitudes of others vying for the travel dollars. In the U.S. alone, private accommodation rentals totaled about $32 billion in 2016, and that figure is projected to grow to $37 billion by 2018. The revenues and valuations in this sector are enormous. Airbnb is now valued at over $31 billion, and online travel giant Expedia purchased HomeAway for $3.9 billion.

This contemporary peer-to-peer rental of apartments, homes, and spare bedrooms has generated a lot of demand and is hugely profitable for the platform providers that connect these parties. However, even with all the noise and competition, the consumer is still left wanting. Unlike hotel booking, which provides instant confirmation and easy travel planning, all of the current ALR companies still rely on convoluted confirmation systems, typically relying on the homeowner to provide the confirmation. This process has been known to take days or even weeks, leaving the traveler in travel planning limbo. There’s also no way a traveler can book ALR lodging through the convenience of a travel agent. Travelers are forced to utilize multiple sites to book flights, cars, services or entertainment and lack a cohesive one-stop shop to book a vacation. It just didn’t exist in the ALR market, until now.

Technology-driven Monaker Group, Inc. is set to disrupt the status quo in ALR and deliver what the customers want. Monaker has more than 60 years of operational experience serving the tourism industry and has pioneered a proprietary system to provide instant confirmation for bookings. The company has also established an extensive network of travel agents to offer ALR options, an alternative never before provided to travelers. Monaker already has a competitive ALR inventory compared to the largest players in the sector, and, given the disruptive changes Monaker is bringing to the vast ALR market, the company should garner lots of attention from investors looking to profit from the alternative lodging rental industry.

For more information, visit www.MonakerGroup.com

In China, there are close to 10 million epilepsy patients, the Chinese Overseas Medical Advisory Service Center estimates. There is no cure in the country, although risky surgery is sometimes performed in the U.S., where there are over three million people living with epilepsy. Many patients rely on Chinese herbs for temporary control. However, ChineseInvestors.com’s (OTCQB: CIIX) current development plan includes making cannabidiol (CBD) products available online for people with epilepsy and Alzheimer’s disease. Its online store (ChineseCBDoil.com) and Yelp-style mobile application are helping to serve Chinese-speaking consumers around the world, and investors as well, with a reach into the $202 million U.S. CBD industry (based on 2015 consumer sales), which is expected to exceed $2 billion by 2020.

Cannabis was used as a medicinal substance in China as early as 2700 BCE, and it was later used across India and the Middle East. Epilepsy patients were treated with cannabis as early as the 11th century. This application was studied in Europe in the 19th century, and research into the medical use of cannabis compounds took place throughout the 1930s and 1940s. Progress was hindered in 1970 as the U.S. Controlled Substances Act prohibited the production and use of any cannabis product. Today, cannabis-based products are gaining ground, and CIIX is paying close attention to the market.

A United Press International (UPI) report in December 2016 (http://dtn.fm/T6kCm) cited two clinical trials that found cannabidiol reduced the frequency of seizures in adults and children. In these studies, CBD was used in patients with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and Dravet syndrome, which are rare, hard-to-treat forms of epilepsy. University of Alabama researchers found that CBD does reduce the frequency and severity of seizures, but not all patients exhibited the same benefits. Research has also indicated that CBD could interact with anti-seizure medications, causing decreases in liver function and sedation. Researchers also weren’t sure if mild to moderate side effects such as decreased appetite, sleepiness, vomiting, or diarrhea were associated with CBD.

Nonetheless, the popularity of CBD and cannabis-based products is adding fuel to the fire, and CIIX isn’t holding back either. It’s investing in enterprises focused on research and development. These include businesses studying CBD’s impact on epilepsy. Parents and caretakers have not been waiting for approval of cannabis products or traditional drugs to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Many have already obtained medical cannabis and seen positive results. Even the American Epilepsy Society has taken a stance, referencing anecdotal reports on the use of marijuana derivative cannabidiol in patients with treatment-resistant seizures (http://dtn.fm/rC5wX). It has called on both government and private funders to support research, so there’s more scientific data on the effectiveness of CBD as an epilepsy treatment.

Cannabidiol is gaining ground in the North American market. Legal in 50 states, it’s considered a food nutrient and is exported to China and over 40 other countries.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.ChineseInvestors.com

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National Waste Management Holdings, Inc. (OTC: NWMH), in a SEC 10-K Annual Report filed on April 17, 2017, for the year ended December 31, 2016, reported revenues of $6,345,324 compared to $2,429,747 (restated) for the same period in 2015, representing a 161% jump. The increase in sales was due primarily to the firm’s acquisitions of Waste Recovery Enterprises, LLC (“WRE”) in October 2015, and Gateway Rolloff Services, LP, on December 1, 2015. Revenue in 2016 also grew due to a larger customer base, increased construction activity in Florida and the May 2016 acquisition of commercial collection company Sivart Services, LLC, which allowed the company to extend services into Cooperstown, New York.

NWMH is a vertically-integrated solid waste management company with six primary operations: landfill services, roll-off dumpster operations, commercial and residential collections, transfer station operations, trucking and grinding and mulch sales. The company operates in Florida and New York. By acquiring Kingston, New York-based Northeast Data, NWMH expanded its revenue stream to include paper shredding and hard drive destruction services.

Northeast Data Destruction & Recycling, since consolidated into WRE, specializes in document destruction services both on- and off-site. Northeast Data has expanded into hard drive destruction services, and the company plans to roll out this service throughout Upstate New York. Northeast Data shreds sensitive documents for banks, law firms, insurance companies, investment firms and other investment entities.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.nationalwastemgmt.com

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OTC Markets Group has announced the publication of proposed amendments to the OTCQB Standards, which are scheduled to go into effect May 18, 2017.

Among these proposed changes, OTC Markets Group proposes the addition of new eligibility criteria for companies not required to be SEC reporting. OTC Markets Group further purposes the refining of various continued eligibility requirements and the reorganization of several sections for improved clarity.

Companies following the Alternative Reporting Standard may now become qualified for the OTCQB and will be required to make public disclosure available through the OTC Disclosure & News Service in accordance with the OTCQX and OTCQB Disclosure Guidelines, which are the same disclosure guidelines used by OTCQX companies. In addition, these Alternate Reporting Companies will have certain corporate governance requirements.

Other proposed changes relate to the timing for removing delinquent filers, revision of due dates for International Reporting filings, annual certification of good standing in the state or jurisdiction of incorporation, and the procedures for removing a company from OTCQB for bid price deficiency.

A comment period is ongoing through May 17, and those with feedback regarding the proposed changes should send their comments and questions to mike@otcmarkets.com.

The proposed rules can be read in their entirety at http://dtn.fm/4EywP

The drug development process is quickly taking on more of a patient-centric approach. As biotechnology company CytoDyn Inc. (OTCQB: CYDY) is aware, possible rejections of drugs by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) don’t necessarily point to a failure. Real world data collection, incorporating scientific data and patient feedback, is aiding research and development and giving many stakeholders in the clinical trial process new capabilities. The recent decline of Orphan Drug Designation (“ODD”) for PRO 140 by the FDA, announced in a Biotech & Pharma story (http://nnw.fm/hFU48), was because the agency believes it can be used to treat a broader population with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Instead of a smaller subgroup of HIV patients (less than 200,000 patients), it thinks a potential monotherapy could eventually be available, suitable for all people with the virus that are infected by the R5 strain of HIV. The drug development path isn’t always a smooth one, and the true implications may not be known for some time.

CytoDyn specializes in humanized monoclonal antibodies and their clinical development. Its groundbreaking advancements in treatments for HIV and other immune deficiency viruses are providing ample opportunities for investors. CytoDyn’s drug under study has a fast track designation from the FDA. The company intends for it to be used both as part of a combination therapy and as a standalone drug, and a recent Letter to Shareholders (http://nnw.fm/1Wt6D) explored the highlights of both. This notice expressed the largest market opportunity may be use as a monotherapy. However, PRO 140 is not only being explored for HIV treatment; it’s also being studied in a Phase 2 graft vs. host disease (GvHD) trial for patients with acute myeloid leukemia or myelodysplastic syndrome who are undergoing a bone marrow transplant and are in danger of developing GvHD. These patients have a significantly decreased one-year survival rate, with relapsed GvHD as the leading causes of death.

According to Transparency Market Research, the current U.S. HIV therapy market is valued at around $20 billion. The CytoDyn drug candidate addresses the shortcomings of the current standard of care (Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy), which include side effects, toxicities, drug resistance, and patient compliance. In a recent study of over 200 patients, it yielded no serious side effects or toxicity.

For updates on clinical trials and approvals, and information for investors, visit CytoDyn Inc. online at www.cytodyn.com.

Technology now allows consumers to make instant purchases, even if they don’t have cash or cards on hand. Net Element (NASDAQ: NETE), a specialist in mobile payment technology, is seeing cashless transactions increase nationwide and globally. North American transactions revenue increased 54 percent from 2015 to 2016, reaching over $42 million. The growth of bankcard regional volume here doesn’t even come close to regions such as the emerging Asian market. According to the World Payments Report 2015, this sector grew 21.6 percent in Asia and 8.6 percent in South America. Still, according to a recent press release (http://nnw.fm/b3Luw), Net Element’s North American segment represented 78 percent of the company’s corporate revenue, an increase of 10 points over the previous year.

The results of a Market Intelligence and Consulting Institute study released in March (http://nnw.fm/B7jWQ) reveal that consumers used their mobile wallets most frequently at restaurants. About 76.4 percent of mobile tech users did so to pay for meals, and another 33.2 percent did so to pay for transportation services. Aptito’s iOS and Android cloud-based point-of-sale (POS) system includes a restaurant management and payment acceptance solution, offering digital menus and kiosks on the iPad. The POS system and iPhone app lets businesses interact with their customers and manage restaurants remotely. Aptito is part of TOT Group, Inc., a global mobile payments and transactional processing provider owned and operated by Net Element.

With the Aptito Retail POS, users can take full advantage of an integrated system. Available on mobile devices, it features a barcode scanner and printer, receipt printer, scales, cash drawer, self-service system, and EMV-compliant bankcard acceptance terminal. Aptito, however, isn’t the only arm that Net Element can flex. It also operates PayOnline, an electronic commerce platform that was recently introduced to Russian markets, adding Apple Pay support across the country. It had a reach of over 200,000 users as of April 2017.

Statista.com (http://nnw.fm/8GjCb) predicts that the global mobile payment market will continue growing. In 2015, the worldwide market was valued at $450 billion, and it is expected to exceed $1 trillion by 2019. Starbucks entered the mobile payments market early and was processing over nine million mobile app transactions per week by Q3 2015 in the U.S. alone (accounting for $11.4 billion in sales), but mobile payments are becoming increasingly popular whether the customer buys products from online marketplaces such as Amazon or brick and mortar stores such as Target.

Globally, the mobile payment industry is surging, but that’s not to say things are sluggish in the U.S. Unified Payments, another TOT Group asset, was rated the #1 fastest growing company in America in 2012 by Inc. Magazine. Its POS solution includes business analytics, fraud detection, and risk management. Near Field Communications technology supports Mobile EMV Card Readers, Apple Pay®, and Android Pay®, while the system also allows merchants to analyze revenue and manage their online reputations.

Net Element’s mobile POS solutions for the restaurant, retail, and other fast-growing mobile payment segments are appealing to an expanding user base. To learn more about the growth it is helping support in the U.S. and globally, review the company’s facts and services online at www.NetElement.com.

The acquisition of ShareRails was completed by Grey Cloak Tech, Inc. (OTC: GRCK) in March 2017 and is already developing new relationships and creating new online-to-offline business opportunities in southeast China. Excel Management Systems, an IT management firm, had valued the acquisition at over $6.4 million. ShareRails is now enhancing the visibility of brick-and-mortar stores to millions of online shoppers thanks to its ShareRails Online to Offline Platform (O2O), which transforms inventory data into digital content that can be indexed by Google and various other search engines. The platform also seamlessly integrates internet marketing, email marketing, and social media to bridge the gap between traditional and e-commerce stores.

Funding by Tomorrow Ventures (a private equity fund operated by Google) has helped ShareRails reach its goals. In fact, ShareRails founder Joseph Nejman previously led seed investments as Entrepreneur in Residence for the venture capital firm and held various roles at Google. In a recent interview, Nejman said of the basis for the ShareRails O2O platform: “Local retailers are missing out on millions of shopping searches each month because their product inventory and other key information is not accessible online and therefore they do not appear in relevant search results nor can consumers see what products are in stock without visiting the store.”

The acquisition promises to have repercussions throughout the retail and e-commerce industries. Serving the trillion-dollar retail sector, ShareRails can draw the attention of online shoppers to local retailers, even if their inventory isn’t available online. Local merchants’ products can be seen through basic online searches. The ShareRails platform makes in-stock products and promotions instantly searchable; it creates a digital product catalog allowing people to find products locally and even on social media. In addition to product details, one will also see directions to the store, hours of operation, and other relevant details.

Once data are imported, stored in the cloud, and published, the ShareRails O2O platform lets people search an online mall. This drives digital campaigns and social media initiatives while enabling a resource for product reviews and recommendations. End users can also take advantage of an outfit builder, wishlist app, and other shopping tools such as the Dress.li recommendation and reward platform. Shoppers can easily connect with fashion experts, stylists, and bloggers. At the same time, merchants have insightful analytics to track customer behavior, trends, and more.

Grey Cloak Tech provides industry-leading click-fraud protection solutions in addition to the retail solutions offered by ShareRails. It is now positioned to address the O2O market and online security (via its proprietary Fraudlytic software for digital advertising fraud protection), giving investors a path to benefit from business ventures serving a vast and diverse market. In the U.S. alone, there are over 10 million product searches per month, even as mall traffic was cut in half between 2010 and 2013, according to a recent company press release.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.GreyCloakTech.com

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Monaker Group (OTCQB: MKGI) has an advantage in the alternative lodging rental (ALR) market. A research report from CBRE Hotels (formerly PF Hospitality) finds that ALR now accounts for 9% of total lodging units in the 10 largest markets in the U.S. and is a threat to the growth and pricing of traditional hotels (http://dtn.fm/OZw8o). In the ALR war, Monaker Group has the advantage of instant online booking for both alternative and traditional lodging.

Monaker Group is using artificial intelligence (AI) as it develops its website, NextTrip.com. It will offer travel agents and consumers a single all-in-one instant confirmation booking site where a user can book ALR, traditional hotels and airfare — everything for a vacation, business trip or a combination of the two. It is a high-technology company focused on the ALR market with its instant confirmation advantage available across non-traditional and traditional travel.

The total inventory of Monaker Group will reach 1.5 million vacation rentals by June 2017, per the company. Earlier this year, it offered one million accept/request properties, its worldwide inventory of resort properties and even “make an offer” bidding solution options. eMarketer research projects that the digital travel market will reach $817.54 billion by 2020 (http://dtn.fm/0Uhh8). Monaker Group will offer ALR digitally plus traditional hotels on its single site. Bill Kerby, founder, chairman and CEO of Monaker Group, said that its site will be an intuitive and fully comprehensive booking platform.

The CBRE Hotels report shows that major ALR player Airbnb is adding more units at a faster clip than traditional hotels, showing the power of the ALR market. For example, in New York, out of a total of 140,000 lodging units, Airbnb accounts for almost 23,000 units, or 16%, as of September 2016. In Los Angeles, ALR accounted for 12% of the lodging units. The numbers were 11% in San Francisco and 9.2% in Miami, the report showed. The available lodging rental units also translated into total hotel-generated room revenue, with ALR accounting for 6% in Los Angles and about 5% in New York, San Francisco and Oakland. In total, CBRE found that more than 55% of Airbnb’s revenues from October 2014 to September 2015 came from five U.S. cities: New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, and Boston. “I take my hat off to them. They saw an opportunity that the rest of us missed,” Choice Hotels CEO Steve Joyce noted in a news release. CBRE projected that, as Airbnb grows, its impact will reduce new hotel construction and keep traditional hotel room rates down.

Meanwhile, Monaker Group has a major advantage with its all-in-one instant booking platform. It gives something in the online marketplace that users want but haven’t had before: instant ALR confirmation plus full integration with traditional travel options. Monaker Group said in its investor presentation that it has a mobile app under development that offers users access to its proprietary ALR inventory, real-time booking, an extensive library of videos showing resorts, and even access to online travel agents. Its booking platform is comprehensive for travelers seeking ALR.

For more information, visit www.MonakerGroup.com

Owning shares of a holding company often times can provide unique opportunities to profit from non-traditional markets with great upside potential. SinglePoint, Inc. (OTC: SING), a publicly traded holding company, offers just such non-traditional upside opportunity with its foray into the burgeoning cannabis market.

Traditionally, SinglePoint has focused on mobile technology and mobile marketing by offering client-based solutions for business transactions, donations and targeted communications. The company connects client companies to target markets by providing innovative mobile technology at reasonable rates. However, SinglePoint recognized the strength and profit potential in acquiring interest in undervalued, high-growth entities in disparate markets to create a diversified holding base.

With some annual growth estimates exceeding 20 percent, SinglePoint settled on the cannabis industry as an excellent avenue of diversification and has pursued strategic opportunities to exploit this market and enhance shareholder value. SinglePoint’s innovative entry in the cannabis market came through its SingleSeed subsidiary. SingleSeed seeks to offer solutions for a perplexing problem encountered by legal marijuana businesses. These businesses, blessed by individual states as legal, still operate outside the boundaries of federal law and have limited access to the banking system. This economic zombie zone places legitimate cannabis businesses in precarious situations. The contradictory laws force all-cash transactions with customers, leading to large amounts of cash on site. SingleSeed aims to offer non-cash payment solutions to marijuana businesses that are easy to use and safer for both the companies and the customers.

Focused on innovation, SinglePoint is expanding its portfolio in the cannabis markets with the strategic acquisition of companies that profit from the cannabis industry but don’t touch the plant itself. There’s little doubt that the marijuana market in the United States will continue to flourish and is poised for explosive upside growth. SinglePoint’s strategy positions the company to maximize profit from the marijuana markets yet virtually eliminate any downside risk exposure. The company’s recent acquisition of a stake in Convectium, an innovative company with a proprietary machine that fills and packages vape cartridges and disposable vape pens at a rate of 100 per 30 seconds, is yet another step in SinglePoint’s expansion of its cannabis-related holdings strategy.

In reference to the Convectium acquisition, Greg Lambrecht, CEO of SinglePoint, stated “We have evaluated numerous investment prospects in the cannabis space, and found there is nothing that compares to this opportunity we have with Convectium. With this transaction, we will acquire a stake in a cannabis business that never touches a marijuana plant. This is the strategy we will use as we move forward to hedge us against changing federal and state laws.”

SinglePoint’s unique strategy positions the company to reap the benefits of the explosive marijuana markets while limiting the downside risk.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.Singlepoint.com

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Serving the massive online-to-offline (O2O) market in China with a popular app for businesses and consumers, Moxian, Inc. (NASDAQ: MOXC) announced that adoption of its platform is accelerating in both Android and iPhone segments. The news comes after the company’s launch of the Moxian+ paid platform in March 2017, which represents a transition from its beta technology that has been offered at no charge. Moxian, an innovative technology company serving the estimated $48 billion O2O market in China, enables consumers to order products online and pay brick and mortar businesses (with an online presence) via traditional offline methods.

The Moxian+ Business App has already enabled small- and medium-sized businesses to capture and analyze data, maintain customer relationships, and target marketing initiatives, as well as to have access to China’s 1.3 billion-user mobile telephone market (the largest in the world). Over 31,000 businesses used the free Moxian platform, and the company hopes to convert them to its paid, improved system.

The Moxian+ User app, reaching over 300,000 consumers with its free version, provides a system for collecting loyalty points, winning universal MO-Coins, and engaging in social networking with friends and interest groups. Consumers can set up a personalized multimedia profile. Providing the means to pay for purchases by mobile device, the app fully supports online payments and contactless cards. People can also search for local merchants via the program’s geo-location feature, communicate with friends via a media messenger, and win gifts by playing exciting games.

Expanding functionality available through Moxian’s (now paid) apps is reaching a large and fast-growing market. Accessibility to Android and iPhone users is allowing the company to hit new milestones, as it strives to reach the country’s smartphone users, who, according to CNBC, account for about 30 percent of the global smartphone market. According to a 2016 Statista.com report (http://nnw.fm/04Xt9), China became the largest mobile phone user market in 2012. Mobile phone subscriptions in the country have surged since 2011, and, now, 89 percent of its population uses a mobile phone. Monthly sales of the top 10 mobile phone brands had reached 800,000 units by Q2 2013.

The surge in app adoption is also proving beneficial to investors. In a recent press release (http://nnw.fm/1wxMB), Moxian announced an aggregate initial offering price of $50 million, with the filing of form S-3 with the SEC. Its revenue streams comprise subscription services, mobile advertising, distribution license fees, and small transaction payments. Moxian’s NASDAQ listing opened in November 2016, and future offerings are expected to include common shares, senior debt, debt securities, warrants, and, potentially, various other securities.

Now that its paid platforms can reach iPhone and Android mobile users in business and consumer markets across China, Moxian anticipates continued growth and expansion. The company can now reach a consumer base of 1.3 billion users and growing. In addition, the Shenzhen-based organization has expanded to Beijing and is expected to have over 100 commissioned executive sales personnel by year’s end.

For more information, visit www.Moxian.com