The U.S. Congress in March introduced legislation to regulate and tax marijuana and to remove it from the federal Controlled Substances Act. The move (http://dtn.fm/w96Hp) would effectively end cannabis prohibition and allow it to be regulated in a way alcohol has been since 1933. This move would be highly beneficial for SinglePoint, Inc. (OTC: SING), a leading mobile technology and payment solutions company that provides ancillary services to the marijuana industry.

Legislation was introduced by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO). It would allow the states to choose to legalize cannabis at their discretion. Also, federal regulations could be imposed on cannabis businesses, even in those states where marijuana is legal. A federal excise tax on cannabis products would be put into effect by a Senate bill (introduced by Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR)), and the House is also considering such a measure. These measures reflect the stance that the administration of President Donald Trump has taken on the legalization of marijuana.

Greg Lambrecht, CEO of SinglePoint, recently noted, “The Trump administration has voiced its intention to empower the states in regards to legalizing medical marijuana. President Donald Trump himself has stated that he believes medical marijuana can help people. At this time, we believe the administration will stay true to their position of empowering the states to make the right call. There are many medical shops here in Phoenix. So far, none of them have said they are being negatively impacted by the current administration or the policies it says are in the works.”

Additional bills address cannabis legalization on a criminal justice front. Changes to cannabis policy could include a reduction of cannabis penalties and an elimination of many legal repercussions now associated with federal convictions. Rep. Blumenauer has expressed concern that individuals could be trapped between federal and state laws and that changes are needed to ensure fairness.

Public support for legal cannabis has grown from 52% of adults in 2014, to 57% in 2016, according to a General Social Survey. The new numbers are supported by a recent Quinnipiac University poll as well. Still, some states, such as California, fear there may be a federal crackdown. Some have said federal intervention could restore prohibition where cannabis is legal, which could spawn a new era of chaos due to an unregulated underground market and criminal justice issues.

SinglePoint has seen much revenue potential in the realm of legal cannabis, and hopes measures will be taken to streamline federal and state oversight of the market. Its interests go beyond investing. The congressional push should also help boost the value of its SingleSeed (www.SingleSeed.com) payments solutions for businesses in the cannabis industry. “For the near term, the best way the administration can help would be to issue guidelines on how the cannabis business can be successfully banked,” Lambrecht added.

Recently, SinglePoint announced the acquisitions of Convectium, a manufacturer and distributor of cannabis-related equipment and packaging solutions. The projections of $3.5 million in sales for 2017, according to a March press release (http://dtn.fm/A5y0U), are attractive to SinglePoint investors who have seen opportunities to diversify the company’s revenue streams. At the start of 2017, 28 states had legalized marijuana in some capacity.

To stay tuned for more details about new cannabis legislation, and to learn more about SinglePoint and its acquisitions in the industry, go to www.SinglePoint.com.

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China’s growing economy has proven to be beneficial to many across the country. Some of these benefits include higher living standards, better health and nutrition, and longer life expectancy. Unfortunately, China’s longer-lived population has resulted in a significant increase in the number of people having to care for seniors with various mental dysfunctions, most notably dementia and, in particular, Alzheimer’s disease.

Alzheimer’s is a neurodegenerative type of dementia that is most prominent in elderly people. The disease is a disorder that involves the death of brain cells leading to various cases of memory loss and cognitive decline. The disease starts mildly but eventually progresses to the point that patients affected often cannot recognize familiar surroundings and eventually lose almost all of their short term memory capabilities.

Recent statistics show that over 1,300 people aged 60 or over get lost or go missing every day in China (http://dtn.fm/zd6uW). Dementia of various forms was said to be the main cause of these disappearances. More than 70% of the elderly people who go missing have memory problems, with 25% of these having Alzheimer’s disease.

Alzheimer’s cases now makes up more than 60% of all dementia patients in China, and, because people are living longer, the number of people affected by the disease is growing rapidly. ChineseInvestors.com, Inc. (OTCQB: CIIX), a company focused on sharing real-time market analysis to Chinese-speaking investors and which also has the aim of becoming the premier producer of cannabidiol (CBD) oil to mainland China, is hoping to help manage this growing problem.

Recent studies show that Alzheimer’s is a disease that affects the whole nervous system (http://dtn.fm/3uyJX), not just the brain. This means that strengthening the endocannabinoid system is extremely important to managing symptoms of Alzheimer’s, something of which CIIX is very aware. From various research, the company has found that CBD oil can be effective in restoring memory, and it plans to further study the efficacy of CBD oil for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.

In addition to the launch of ChineseCBDoil.com, the world’s first online CBD health products store in Chinese, and its cannabis mobile application, ChineseInvestors.com will be investing in CBD drug R&D enterprises with the aim of developing a range of CBD-based drugs that can help mitigate the suffering of patients with Alzheimer’s, among other diseases.

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

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In its recent presentation at the MicroCap Conference in New York, eXp World Holdings, Inc. (OTCQB: EXPI) projected that its count of agents/brokers would be in the range of 5,500-6,500 by the end of this year, according to Glenn Sanford, CEO and company founder. eXp World Holdings is the holding company for eXp Realty LLC and eXp Realty of Canada, Inc. Through these subsidiaries, EXPI operates as a unique 24/7 cloud-based brokerage company that enables agents to earn company stock through production and offers them a percentage of gross commissions earned by other agents they attract into the company. eXp World Holdings finished its year ended December 31, 2016, with 2,401 agents/brokers, and, by March 15, 2017, that number had grown to more than 3,000. The company operates in 43 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and Alberta, Canada.

Sanford said that EXPI’s count of agents/brokers is mushrooming due to several factors. The firm offers stock incentives to agents/brokers and a share of commissions earned by new agents they attract to the company. It also offers low costs versus traditional brick-and-mortar models and immersive 3D cloud campuses for more effective and available training and communication. It represents a significant change from the traditional real estate office model, he told conference attendees, indicating that a high-tech “perfect storm” helped inspire the inception of this different approach to the realty brokerage based on a cloud platform.

Traditionally, the broker/owner or manager of a real estate office is responsible for the growth of agent count, he explained. In EXPI’s model, all agents are actively involved in recruiting others to join. Attractive features to new agents include lower costs, high technology training, stock options, and a cloud-based campus. Two of the Wall Street Journal’s Top 50 real estate agents have now joined the company, he said.

Sanford told conference attendees that the firm’s agents tend to be younger, closer to 40 years of age, as opposed to the typical agent of about 54. He said its three-year vesting program is attractive to new agents, as are the prospects of earning options on company stock and receiving a percentage of commissions earned by company agents they recruit. The three-year vesting is an important tool to retain agents, he said. It serves as an incentive to stay. He also noted that the average commission earned on a sale is a healthy $9,000.

He added that there remains plenty of room for growth for the company, saying that its largest market is currently Texas, where it has more than 800 agents — almost one third of the company. By comparison, in the New York/Connecticut market, he said, the firm has little presence today and only a handful of agents.

For future growth as the company expands, Sanford noted that EXPI is investing in eight or nine developers who are working on a new back-end platform for the company. Sanford said that, because it is cloud-based, the company can quickly grow into any market without the traditional costs of brick-and-mortar.

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

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Fast-developing consumerism in China is giving us a glimpse as to what is working and what could shape our future commerce habits worldwide. Currently, the mobile and social revolutions are taking over the commerce world, a process that is expected to accelerate.

According to Statista (http://nnw.fm/ottB9), the number of smartphone users is expected to go from 2.1 billion in 2016 to 2.87 billion by the end of 2020, leading to a potentially huge surge in the number of consumers shopping on their phones. Most importantly, this sector is being led by China, which CNBC says accounts for approximately 30% of the global smartphone market and holds mobile commerce far more sophisticated and advanced than that of other countries (http://nnw.fm/7tT9d). Aside from the fact that nearly two-thirds of retail and consumer-to-consumer e-commerce sales in the fourth quarter of 2015 were made on mobile in China (http://nnw.fm/TYV0s), the country is also far more advanced in terms of mobile money transfers; loyalty programs such as vouchers, coupons, and e-ticketing; delivery systems; and content purchasing.

E-commerce is not the only area of marketing that China is influencing. The country is known for integrating its e-commerce with social media. Social commerce has not only allowed for the proliferation of the online-to-offline (O2O) world but has also become a way to facilitate better customer relationship management (CRM) and, of course, commerce. Companies are now able to have personalized, one-on-one interactions with customers, thus making more sales.

In China, sophisticated social marketing platforms such as those designed by Moxian, Inc. (NASDAQ: MOXC) are fueling this constant growth, and the competitive market there is pushing Moxian to continue its innovation. The company’s mobile applications, Moxian+ User and Moxian+ Business, act as one-stop shops for both mobile shoppers and businesses, linking them together seamlessly with a variety of features and technology.

The Moxian+ User application incorporates social networking with gaming, using the company’s virtual currency whereby users can redeem prizes sponsored by Moxian and Moxian merchants. On the other hand, the Moxian+ Business application is a social CRM tool that not only allows business to set up shop on the Moxian platforms but also pushes promotions to users, all while generating reports giving them a 360-degree view of their progress on the Moxian platform.

For more information, visit www.Moxian.com

With 2.3 million listings and a valuation of more than $30 billion, Airbnb has become the behemoth of the alternative lodging rental (ALR) industry. Concocted 10 years ago to supplement rent, the idea of renting lodging from private home owners has taken off and turned the travel industry on its head. Renting a room or an entire house has gained widespread public acceptance. By providing vacationers with better options and home owners with newfound income, high-margin revenues can be generated by the intermediary. Naturally, this mutually beneficial arrangement for owners and renters has spurred competition in the alternative lodging rental arena. Multiple companies now offer varying forms of online alternative lodging rentals. The ALR market has proven to be so large and lucrative that the owner of one of the world’s largest travel websites, Expedia, acquired HomeAway’s ALR platform for $3.9 billion in 2015.

Even with large valuations for the companies, traditional ALR booking has drawbacks for travelers. Ongoing irritants include the need to employ multiple sites to arrange lodging, airlines, cruises, concierge services, and rental cars. Delayed lodging and travel confirmation is also a continuing source of consternation with travelers trying to book vacation packages. Often taking days or even weeks, travelers can’t even start to arrange for transportation or other services until after confirmation of lodging. In spite of this quandary, most ALR sites require users to fend for themselves when trying to create and book a comprehensive vacation itinerary.

The stand-out strength of Monaker Group (OTCQB: MKGI) is that it has managed to eliminate these irritants and delays. Monaker now offers a first in the ALR market: instant confirmation for ALR booking. Monaker Group’s unique ALR platform offers these services through its innovative, real-time booking platform NextTrip.com. The company then brings this unmatched new tool into the mainstream travel industry, merging it with conventional travel bookings, so that NextTrip.com is the only platform to offer travelers real-time ALR booking plus access to all the other conventional travel and lodging options needed to plan and organize vacations. There’s nothing else like it.

A technology driven, comprehensive travel company, Monaker Group utilizes multiple divisions and brands, leveraging its more than 60 years of operation in leisure travel, to serve the tourism industry. Decades of experience have given Monaker invaluable insights into how to best serve today’s traveler. On the high end, the company provides highly customizable tours, escorted vacations and travel solutions through its Maupintour subsidiary. Monaker’s Extraordinary Vacations Group (EXVG) platform will soon exploit a largely untapped market by providing timeshare owners the ability to market their unused timeshare, fractional, condo-hotel units to travelers, while the company’s Voyage TV division, with thousands of hours of worldwide travel footage, is utilized to enhance and market travel services across all of the company’s brands.

In the large and lucrative ALR market, Monaker’s real-time booking innovations and comprehensive one-stop services have given Monaker a new and unique position in the travel industry.

For more information, visit www.MonakerGroup.com

Digital services have now transformed traditional markets across the world. Businesses and individuals alike expect to be able to use digital services in a variety of contexts, on multiple devices, through various channels. Despite this growing trend, statistics from Progress.com (http://nnw.fm/1DfaT) show that, although many companies are developing their strategies for digital transformation, they do not plan to execute these strategies in the coming year. In addition, 2016 data showed that more than 40% of companies haven’t even started their digital transformation. This lack of adoption can be attributed to these companies’ management teams not knowing how to monetize their digital services and goods, or even a fear of simply being too late.

The first step organizations need to take is to focus their attention on “revenue moments”. Revenue moments can happen whenever customers interact with a company through a digital platform such as a website, social media pages, email campaigns, products, or other business channels. In order to transform these revenue moments into actual revenue, businesses must implement the appropriate payment tools that are most likely to speak to their customers.

Net Element, Inc. (NASDAQ: NETE), a globally recognized payment technology company, specializes in mobile payments and value-added transaction services. Through its subsidiary, Digital Provider, the company offers a large portfolio of customizable payment solutions that enable organizations to monetize their goods and increase conversions.

In addition to the trending mobile payment solutions, Digital Provider offers mobile marketing opportunities and shortcode rentals, a tool used to simplify the pattern of interaction between customers that visit a business’ online store and all other online services. These services are coupled with call center rentals, automated mass payments, and a package solution giving organizations the chance to fundraise for charity.

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

It was in the 1980s that American households first heard about HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Since the HIV epidemic began in the 1980s, the virus has continued to affect millions around the world—including more than 1.2 million people in the United States who are currently living with HIV. Of those 1.2 million-plus individuals, one in eight doesn’t even know they have HIV, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (http://nnw.fm/n7Z9t).

Over the years, many advancements have been made in the treatment of HIV, but, clearly, there are still strides to be made in fighting this devastating virus and preventing the havoc it wreaks on the human immune system.

Many doctors currently prescribe multi-drug combination therapy to HIV patients in an effort to avoid HIV cell mutation and the development of single-therapy resistance. The following classes of antiretroviral drugs are currently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat HIV and AIDS (http://nnw.fm/rLO6w):

• Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors (NRTIs)
• Nonnucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors (NNRTIs)
• Protease Inhibitors (PIs)
• Fusion Inhibitors
• Entry Inhibitors – CCR5 co-receptor antagonist
• HIV integrase strand transfer inhibitors

The advent of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has made HIV-1 infection manageable as a chronic disease for patients with access to treatment and who achieve durable virologic suppression, but there is more to be done.

One biotechnology company, CytoDyn Inc. (OTCQB: CYDY), currently stands out for its pioneering efforts to develop humanized monoclonal antibodies to treat HIV infection with many advantages over current standard of care.

CytoDyn’s lead product, PRO 140, is the first self-administered antibody therapy for HIV in late-stage clinical trials and addresses the primary reasons for failings of HAART, such as side effects, toxicity, drug resistance and compliance issues. In 200 patients involved in more than seven clinical trials, PRO 140 has demonstrated only minor side effects with hardly any toxicity. Further, no drug resistance, no serious adverse effects and no negative impact on immune function have been evidenced. Because PRO 140 is administered via once-weekly, self-administered subcutaneous injection, compliance issues are also improved in comparison to HAART.

Not only is PRO 140 one of the most advanced experimental monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of HIV, it is believed that PRO 140 will help patients with complicating issues, including single- or multi-drug resistance, intolerance to currently available therapies due to toxicity and side effects, and complex medical needs or compromised organ function.

PRO 140 is part of a new class of HIV/AIDS therapeutics called viral-entry inhibitors that are intended to protect healthy cells from being infected. This humanized monoclonal antibody binds to CCR5, which is the HIV entry receptor, and blocks HIV entry into white blood cells.

PRO 140 is currently being evaluated in combination with HAART (in a pivotal, Phase 2b/3 trial) and as an alternative to HAART (in a Phase 2b/3 monotherapy trial). There are also pipeline opportunities for non-HIV indications for PRO 140, including transplantation, autoimmunity, cancer and chronic inflammation.

For more information, visit www.CytoDyn.com

At first blush, India Globalization Capital (NYSE: IGC) would seem a curiosity clothed in an enigma. Just how does a NYSE company move from a successful mining orientation to a pioneer in the development of multiple cannabinoid-based pharmaceutical therapies to treat pain and disease? The enigma can be disrobed by looking at the tenacity and vision of its management.

Ram Mukunda has served as Executive Chairman, CEO and President of India Global since inception in 2005. He holds distinguished mathematics and engineering degrees and worked in multiple Wall Street positions for more than 25 years, serving communications firms such as Intelsat SA and Startec. Mukunda actually founded Startec in 1991 to provide VOIP service to emerging economies. As Chairman and CEO of Startec, he led the company to a $60 million public stock offering in 1997. His introduction to the mining industry came a few years later through a company he co-founded, India Globalization Capital. The company mined and converted low-grade iron ore to high-grade ore. Iron ore prices subsequently plummeted nearly 75 percent, putting it below the cost of production. That’s when Mukunda made a difficult decision and charted a course change for the company.

Realizing that the lucrative mining business was bust, he searched for a growth arena to position the company and move forward. He ultimately centered on the burgeoning cannabis industry and the myriad of potential medical benefits. Mukunda and his team realized that there were a lot of untapped uses for cannabinoids and cannabis-based extracts. They recruited a team of highly skilled doctors and patent attorneys, comparing anecdotal stories with scientific evidence and identifying areas where patents had not been filed. This process has yielded results.

The company now has a pipeline of patent pending cannabinoid-based drugs targeting large market maladies, which includes therapeutics for neuropathic pain, human and animal seizures, refractory epilepsy and eating disorders. Several of these therapeutic drugs are scheduled for pre-clinical trials this year. The company is transitioning fast from building research teams and developing a patent portfolio to marketable products.

For the past few years, India Globalization Capital has also focused interest on cannabis-based combination therapies, using cannabis-based extracts in combination with other medications to reduce side effects and increase bioavailability and absorption. As one of the first to enter this space, the company has been building intellectual property around these precepts and expects to reap substantial rewards from this arena.

From mining to medical marijuana would seem an incredible leap, but, when looking at India Global and the leadership of Ram Mukunda, it would be tough to bet against a leader with such tenacity and vision. And with a $12MM market cap, IGC is quite compelling given the valuations attributed to its peers.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.IGCinc.us

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Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency, or EPI, is a problem in a person’s digestive system. Simply put, EPI is when the pancreas cannot produce enough of the enzymes that the body requires to break down and absorb nutrients. Unfortunately, this means that the body is unable to absorb the right fats and nutrients, often leading to weight loss.

There are a number of causes for EPI, such as inflammation of the pancreas; effects from surgery on the pancreas, intestines, or stomach; or even an inherited disease such as cystic fibrosis, Shwachman-Diamond syndrome, Crohn’s Disease, diabetes, or celiac disease. Symptoms do vary, but normally the patient will feel a pain or tenderness in the abdomen, problems with bowel movements, flatulence, and a feeling of being full.

Today, there has been a rise in the number of people with EPI, and this has been largely attributed to an increase in the number of patients diagnosed with diabetes and cystic fibrosis (CF). According to an article from PR Newswire (http://dtn.fm/uyF9L), there are approximately 70,000 people living with cystic fibrosis worldwide, with 1,000 new cases diagnosed each year. In addition, 50% of children with CF suffer from EPI from the moment they are born.

According to TransparencyMarketReserarch.com (http://dtn.fm/0tvSc), the EPI market is growing at an astronomical rate, and this is not expected to slow, since the number of patients diagnosed with diabetes is expected to grow to approximately 366 million by the end of 2030. PR Newswire reported an anticipated expansion of the market at a CAGR of over 8% between 2015 and 2023, allowing it to reach just under $3 billion.

Unfortunately, despite the expected market growth, current EPI treatments have a number of limitations. Aside from a healthy diet, the current treatment for EPI is Pancreatic Enzyme Replacement Therapy (PERT), but not only are these treatments not very effective, they also show a lack of stability in an acidic environment and carry a high pill burden, which can be highly inconvenient for patients.

Luckily, AzurRx BioPharma, Inc. (NASDAQ: AZRX), a development stage biopharmaceutical company focused on creating treatments for patients suffering from gastrointestinal diseases such as EPI, is currently in Phase IIa of the development of MS1819 lipase, a non-systemic, yeast-derived recombinant enzyme.

This orally-administered capsule is not only showing significant potential for the treatment of EPI in patients with chronic pancreatitis and cystic fibrosis; it is also demonstrating activity in long chain fats and stability in protease and bile salt environments. MS1819 lipase could give patients suffering from EPI the chance to reduce their pill burden from 25 to 40 pills a day to as little as five to eight.

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

Construction and demolition (C&D) materials represent the debris from the demolition, construction, or renovation of buildings, bridges, or even roads. C&D materials are normally heavy materials such as concrete, wood, asphalt, gypsum, bricks, glass, some types of plastic, salvaged building components, metals and trees, among other materials.

In the United States, C&D materials constitute a large percentage of waste, much of which can be transformed into new productive products. According to a report entitled ‘Advancing Sustainable Materials Management: 2014 Fact Sheet’ (http://dtn.fm/HiA4r), over 500 million tons of C&D debris were generated in 2014, with concrete making up 70% of it, asphalt 14%, wood more than 7%, and other products making up approximately 9% between them.

All the materials outlined above can either be reduced, salvaged, recycled, or reused by simply preserving existing buildings rather than constructing new ones, designing new buildings that can be adapted to make them last longer, establishing construction methods that allow for the disassembly and reuse of materials, using different framing techniques, and reducing the various types of interior finishes.

In addition, steps are being taken by companies such as National Waste Management Holdings, Inc. (OTC: NWMH) to reduce the impact C&D has on the environment. NWMH is a solid waste management company located in Central Florida.

The company is focused on operating according to an eco-friendly business model that has been put in place to combat unnecessary waste in Florida and New York. To pursue its mission of being environmentally conscience with a focus on sustainability, NWMH is committed to inspecting all loads and sorting all the materials that arrive in its landfills in order to accept only those that are compliant with the C&D Department of Environmental Protection standards.

In addition to the company’s high level of compliance with the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), National Waste Management plans on using its picking station to aid the state of Florida in its quest to meet its mandate for 75% recycling by the end of 2020. This incentive will give the company the ability to increase its rate of recyclables and sales of commodities.

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

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