Annual spending on leisure travel, at $650.8 billion in 2015, far exceeds spending on business travel, which totaled $296.3 billion during the same period, according to the U.S. Travel Association (http://dtn.fm/4Y0zB). But travelers are increasingly mixing business travel with leisure by extending their trips and combining the two. Monaker Group, Inc. (OTCQB: MKGI) serves this market through its subsidiaries, NextTrip.com, a real-time online booking platform, and Maupintour, which specializes in luxury and customized tours.

Monaker Group’s NextTrip.com and Maupintour offer technology-driven platforms which enable travelers to learn, plan, and execute their trips online. BridgeStreet Global Hospitality (http://dtn.fm/4B4iz) has found that travelers want sightseeing, dining and arts/culture in locations they were already traveling to for business.

According to the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) (http://dtn.fm/rqAV7), 45% of employees at firms with less than 250 employees extended trips, compared to 38% at companies with 250-499 employees and just 30% at companies of 500 or more.

Some 52% are extending business trips with leisure travel with a spouse or significant other, the GBTA’s Business Travel Sentiment Index™ found in 2015. Further, 63% use the opportunity to explore the destination, and 48% said they would visit family or friends.

In the 2016 GBTA Index survey, mobile devices, social networks and apps were noted as important business travel tools. Some 72% of millennials and 64% of all business travelers check their travel itineraries at least once a day, and some 31% said they prefer to use electronic receipts instead of hard copies for tracking expenses.

Monaker Group has its own Monaker Booking Engine (MBE), which, in real time, has a global inventory of air, lodging, and tours, all viewable from a single online site. Travel bookings can be organized for the business traveler, the leisure traveler, or both. Monaker recently announced plans to release its own app for NextTrip on Android and iOS by the end of January 2017.

Additionally, Monaker Group has access to alternative lodging options for the traveler on its NextTrip.com site, with rentals of private residences or unused timeshare rooms in managed properties. In a news release, Bill Kerby, chairman and CEO of Monaker Group, said that the company is well positioned to take advantage of the trend to alternative lodging and travel. Monaker’s management team believes that the alternative lodging rental (ALR) market will reach $169 billion by 2019 and sees it as the fastest-growing segment of the business.

The company believes it is able to leverage its more than 60 years in leisure travel with new technology to best deliver its services. It said it plans to introduce artificial intelligence to NextTrip.com in the future under its ‘Travel Made Easy’ platform. Alternative travel includes everything from private residences available for rent to fractional shares of timeshare resort rooms.

Through NextTrip.com, Monaker Group is able to bring all of these elements in an online platform to the prospective traveler. Through Maupintour, it can organize even more specialized travel. Maupintour offers unique and luxury tours with a high repeat rate among travelers. Millennials want a single source for their combined business and leisure travel.

For more information, please visit www.MonakerGroup.com

Before the opening bell, top-ranked independent research firm WallStreet Research™ (WSR) announced the release of a Corporate Profile Analyst Report covering ChineseInvestors.com, Inc. (OTCQB: CIIX). In addition to highlighting CIIX’s ongoing operations, including both its efforts to provide a range of financial information to the global Chinese population via www.Chinesefn.com and its preparations to capitalize on the thriving market for cannabidiol-based products through its www.ChineseCBDoil.com website, the WSR report gives prospective investors some additional insight into the tremendous growth opportunities presented by the company’s evolving strategy.

“The Company’s recent announcements regarding expansion into the medical marijuana and CBD oil industry has driven great interest in CIIX shares,” Alan Stone, managing director of WSR, stated in this morning’s news release. “As a result, the shares have significantly increased in both market value and trading volume, potentially positioning the company for a listing either on the NASDAQ or the NYSE Markets sometime later in 2017.”

In recent weeks, CIIX has made considerable progress toward the impending launch of its operations in the emerging global cannabis industry. Last month, the company announced a new partnership with a well-known cannabidiol (CBD) health brand that will enable CIIX to retail nutritional supplements containing CBD to the Asian market through both online and in-store distribution channels. Shortly after that announcement, CIIX unveiled plans to launch the world’s first CBD health products online store available in the Chinese language by the end of January 2017. The headquarters for this operation will be located in Shanghai, and the company has already outlined plans to create a wholly-owned subsidiary within the Shanghai Free Trade Zone with the sole focus of supplying CBD-based health products to the expansive worldwide Chinese population.

This morning’s release of a research report from WSR came just days after the release of a similar update from Traders News Source (TNS), an equity research firm specializing in small and micro-cap securities. The TNS report also placed a great deal of focus on CIIX’s recent entry into the cannabis industry through www.ChineseCBDoil.com. The firm notes that, while marijuana use is currently illegal in the People’s Republic of China, cannabis-based oils are legal, providing a potential market for CIIX that includes well over one billion people in China alone.

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

Since its inception back in 1980, Aurora, Illinois-based Westell Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: WSTL) has had one primary goal: that of ensuring top-quality communications to its customers. Almost four decades ago, this meant offering highly efficient transmission equipment and telephone signaling, but since then the company has expanded significantly and adapted to now offer some of the most technologically advanced, high-performance wireless infrastructure solutions in the telecom industry. Westell Technologies offers a comprehensive set of innovative products and service geared toward advancing network performance and helping network operators and service providers lower operating expenses. Serving primarily the U.S. market, Westell has expanded to also offer its products and services to Canada, South America, Africa, and Australia.

Westell’s innovative product solutions include Intelligent Site Management (ISM), Communication Network Solutions (CNS) and In-Building Wireless (IBW) via proprietary Clearlink® technology. The ISM solution helps users gain a competitive advantage when it comes to control and operation of their networks through remote visibility, a unitary control platform, lower operating costs, flexibility, adaptability, quality and maximum efficiency. Given the rapid expansion of wireless networks and the growing challenges this poses, the focus is now more on remote site management so as to lower maintenance costs and minimize troubleshooting. Westell provides comprehensive site management focused on communications management, power and security management and environmental management.

The company’s CNS include state-of-the-art network interfaces, power distribution systems, cabinets and enclosures, cell site optimization, system integration and also copper fiber management. The main goal of the company’s CNS is to help build reliable communications networks that can sustain harsh environmental conditions and still be able to connect any outdoor facility or building effectively, safely and efficiently.

Westell’s IBW segment is based on the company’s proprietary Clearlink® technology and includes various comprehensive solutions designed to ensure wireless coverage and capacity. IBW solutions include small cell deployments and distributed antenna systems, which are becoming increasingly common due to a significant spike in the use of mobile devices and data-intensive mobile services in office buildings, universities, airports and other public venues. The company’s Clearlink® IBW solution includes antennas, distributed antenna system radiofrequency conditioners, bi-directional amplifiers, digital repeaters and other types of system components aimed at improving overall network performance while lowering capital and operating costs.

In addition to its three main product groups, Westell also offers a comprehensive range of support and services to its customers so as to put together customized, complete solutions that best meet their business needs. Leveraging its 35+ years of experience in providing quality, innovative service to the industry, Westell makes available important technical knowledge and integration services, as well as training classes and general support designed to help all of its customers, from service providers to tower operators and other network operators.

For more information, visit www.Westell.com

The hundreds of thousands of women who attended the Women’s March on Washington and its ‘sister’ marches across the nation and around the world attest to the magnitude of ‘girl power’. The status of women has certainly changed from what it was in the 15th century, when the English clergyman, John Mirk, wrote in a homily that survives, slightly altered, to this day: a maid should be seen, but not heard.

The multitude of maids that paraded across Independence Avenue and at other locations was certainly seen and definitely heard. The modern woman takes an active role in public affairs, but she also indulges her fancy for lighter fare by visiting the Function(x) Inc. (NASDAQ: FNCX) website Wetpaint, which, for over six years now, has been serving millennial women with the latest entertainment scoops, including television, music, and pop culture news.

Millennials, or those born between 1982 and 2000, make up about one-quarter of the U.S. population. At 83.1 million, they now outnumber the 75.4 million Baby Boomers, according to recent Census Bureau (http://dtn.fm/BlAo7) data. Their numbers mean they cannot be ignored.

A feature on NewsCred Insights (http://dtn.fm/pNS12) stressed the need for those who market to Millennials to have relevant content. It also pointed out that you can ‘catch Millennials where they live: on social media’. Millennial women, it seems, make up the majority of users on social media platforms such as Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram. Men prefer online discussion forums like the once profanity-laced Reddit. Gender differences on Twitter, Tumblr and LinkedIn are not, according to the Pew Research Center (http://dtn.fm/yX1BZ), significant. Most fascinating of all was the discovery that 70 percent of millennial women consider shopping to be entertainment. Who would have guessed?

That’s why, in 2010, Function(x) launched the Wetpaint Entertainment platform designed to offer the 18–34 year old female demographic information, entertainment and information on entertainment. On Wetpaint, Generation Y females can get the latest updates and breaking news on TV shows, celebrities, reality gossip, music, and fashion. The site, which depends on an advertising-based revenue model, publishes more than 55 new articles, videos and galleries each day.

To enhance its digital publishing business, Function(x) recently acquired the assets of Rant Inc., a leading digital publisher of original content across 13 different verticals, most notably in sports, entertainment, pets, cars, and food. The combined Wetpaint and Rant properties currently have approximately 13.5 million fans on their Facebook pages and generate an average of 14.4 million visits per month.

Another Function(x) property is Choose Digital, a white-label digital marketplace featuring a wide up-to-date range of digital content, including music, movies, TV shows, e-Books and audio books. The site offers an aggregation of movie and TV content plus content sourced from the world’s leading record companies and book publishers.

Function(x) also offers a daily fantasy sports experience both directly to consumers and to businesses desiring turnkey solutions through its majority ownership of DraftDay Gaming Group, which is well-positioned to become a significant player in the explosive fantasy sports market.

For more information, visit www.FunctionxInc.com

Founded in 1999, ChineseInvestors.com (OTCQB: CIIX) has become a leading financial information website for Chinese-speaking investors in the United States and China. Recognizing unprecedented opportunities in the U.S. cannabis industry, CIIX is also laying the groundwork to capitalize on growing demand for cannabidiol (CBD)-based nutrition and health products.

Through its primary website, www.ChineseInvestors.com, CIIX offers a variety of investor education products and services, including real-time market commentary, analysis and educational related services in Chinese language character sets; consultative services to smaller private companies considering becoming a public company; and advertising and public relations related support services.

At the center of this initiative is the ChineseInvestors Method, a unique integration of a disciplined investing process, web-based tools, personalized instructions and support. Using this strategy, CIIX provides reliable market information to help investors make informed investment decisions and meet their individualized financial goals.

CIIX is also leveraging its financial expertise to enter into the burgeoning CBD industry, which within a few years has grown from a relatively invisible sector to a billowing market expected to reach $2.1 billion in consumer sales by 2020.

The increasing demand for CBD-based products is a catalyst for innovative business endeavors. To this accord, CIIX has established a three-year development plan to capitalize on the convergence of CBD and the nutrition and health products market in mainland China, where the benefits of CBD oil have not been widely recognized.

Under a wholesale agreement with a reputable CBD health brand, CIIX is launching the world’s first online CBD health products store published in the Chinese language. The site, www.ChineseCBDoil.com, caters to a growing number of Chinese people awakening to the numerous health benefits of CBD oil for treatment of a variety of conditions such as anxiety, stress, poor sleep, Alzheimer’s disease, and more. CIIX expects to launch this website at the end of January 2017, and plans to sell CBD-infused products via online and in-store.

In conjunction, CIIX’s cannabis-focused “Yelp”-style mobile app is in development as a platform for Chinese people to review and discuss various cannabis products. The app will be the first marijuana social media mobile app designed for Chinese-speaking customers worldwide.

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

A Florida-based biopharmaceutical company is giving hope to patients with rare debilitating diseases by developing innovative therapies designed specifically to improve and alleviate their symptoms. The main focus of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: CPRX) is the development of a treatment for Lambert-Eaton Myasthenic Syndrome (LEMS) – a rare, autoimmune, neuromuscular disorder characterized by muscle weakness and autonomic dysfunction.

With a prevalence of approximately 1 in 100,000 people in the United States and Canada, this ailment can be severely debilitating, as its primary symptoms are severe muscle weakness and fatigue. The disease occurs when the immune system starts attacking the nerves that control muscles, more specifically nerve cell proteins that regulate how much acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter, is released. When the body cannot release enough of it, regular muscle contractions that allow walking, wiggling one’s fingers or shrugging one’s shoulders become almost impossible. In addition to these symptoms, approximately 50 percent of LEMS patients also develop a form of cancer, typically small cell lung cancer.

Catalyst Pharmaceuticals is currently developing amifampridine phosphate specifically for the treatment of LEMS and possibly other neuromuscular disorders. The company has recently completed a crucial Phase 3 clinical trial for amifampridine phosphate with positive top-line results: the 38 subject, global, multi-center study showed that the product is safe and effective in the treatment of LEMS Patients. The therapy has already received the Orphan Drug and Breakthrough Therapy designations from the Food and Drug Administration, which means that it can be made available on a compassionate use basis to patients who really need it, pending FDA’s approval for commercialization. Clinical trial participants can get continued access to the treatment through the Amifampridine Phosphate Expanded Access Program recently initiated by Catalyst Pharmaceuticals. In the meantime, the company continues its work to secure FDA approval for the therapy so as to begin commercializing it under the proposed tradename of Firdapse®.

The company believes this product has the potential to treat several other neuromuscular disorders including Congenital Myasthenic Syndromes (CMS) and some cases of myasthenia gravis that do not respond to regular approved therapies. These possible applications of the treatment are also mentioned in the NDA that Catalyst recently filed with the Food and Drug Administration. CMS is a rare autoimmune disorder that starts affecting patients shortly after birth or in their early childhood. Ranging in severity from minor to disabling symptoms, its main effect is a significant fatigable weakness of skeletal muscles that can even lead to episodes of respiratory insufficiency if other conditions, such as fever or infections, are present. Another condition that could be improved by amifampridine phosphate is downbeat nystagmus, popularly known as “dancing eyes” because of its most common symptom: involuntary rhythmic oscillations of the eyes.

In addition to amifampridine phosphate, Catalyst Pharmaceuticals is also developing CPP-115, a very potent GABA-aminotransferase inhibitor for the treatment of infantile spasms or seizures. In-vitro studies have indicated that CPP-115 is 200 times stronger than traditional therapies for this condition and that it may also have fewer side effects. Besides infantile spasms, CPP-115 might prove effective against a wide range of conditions, including other forms of epilepsy or central nervous system ailments such as Tourette Syndrome and PTSD.

For more information, visit www.CatalystPharma.com

The global payments landscape has changed significantly over the past decade. The ongoing digital and technological revolution and the entry of a variety of payment solution companies, both banking and nonbanking, combined with customers who simply expect more, has led to issues with many currently available online payment solutions.

Despite the excitement of new payment technologies, there are still a number of unique challenges the industry faces, leading to substantial negative impacts on world businesses. Some of the most prominent, ongoing, and online-specific payment challenges out there include fraud, a higher demand for more payment features, the need for further international online payments, systems integration, and an increase in compliance issues, among others.

Fortunately, businesses are increasingly being given the chance to work with payment solution companies that specialize in online payments specifically, and who have incorporated technological solutions that directly tackle the above issues. This is where Net Element, Inc. (NASDAQ: NETE) comes in. NETE is a technology-driven group that specializes in mobile payments and value-added transactional services, including online payment solutions.

Through subsidiary PayOnline, the company is able to offer reliable payment solutions for e-commerce businesses around the world while also ensuring that these platforms can be integrated with existing technologies, are customized for both website and mobile applications, and are safe. The company’s online payment solution systems allow enterprises to minimize risks for all types of fraud typically associated with e-commerce.

Aside from its ability to keep its clients safe, Net Element, Inc. has been at the forefront of innovation within the online payment solutions industry, allowing customers to make payments through MasterPass for the first time. To offer the best service it can, NETE’s PayOnline teams stay current with changing compliance regulations by attending regular professional certification programs.

The company’s key corporate values are quality and innovation, a customer-centric way of operating, a high level of responsibility for the results they provide, plus respectful and positive relationships throughout teams and with customers. The company’s software-as-a-service solutions and payment processing platform comply with all Level 1 Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards.

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

Despite many real estate firms having environmental policies, sustainability targets, and clear commitments and strategies to lower their carbon emissions, the real estate sector still uses more energy than any other sector. This is according to the ‘Environmental sustainability Principles for the Real Estate Industry’ report published by World Economic Forum (http://dtn.fm/Rb5J2), which views real estate as the operational life of the final buildings and not just what’s involved in their initial construction. In other words, how “green” are our buildings?

According to the report, not only are buildings the source of the most energy consumption, they are, understandably, also a growing contributor to CO2 emissions. In fact, real estate consumes over 40% of global energy every year. In addition, 20% of greenhouse gas emissions originate from buildings, a number that’s expected to increase 56% by the year 2030. The report continues to explain that, by 2030, buildings are expected to use up to 12% of the world’s fresh water.

However, although a large proportion of the world’s real estate already existed before eco-friendly policies were put in place, progress is being made toward “greener” real estate. The number of “green” commercial builds increased to between 40% and 48% in 2016, up from only 2% in 2005. Additionally, regulations are now in place to ensure that businesses work toward sustainability performance.

In support of these efforts, companies such as eXp World Holdings, Inc. (OTCQB: EXPI) are completely changing the way the real estate industry itself functions. Gone are the days during which agents and brokers were expected to work in a brick and mortar office. EXPI has not only cut unnecessary expenses and built an agent-owned, cloud-based real estate brokerage that operates without the need for offices, utility bills, insurance, furnishings, and redundant staffing costs, the company has correspondingly cut its direct CO2 emissions.

Aside from the financial benefits of operating in the cloud, EXPI provides an extremely sound template for a more sustainable way of operating a real estate brokerage on all levels. The company works on the basis that its most valuable asset is the group of agents and brokers who are part of it. And, with no physical constrictions, eXp World Holdings, Inc. can focus its efforts on these assets while providing smart solutions to the climate concerns that the world is now facing, further championing sustainability across the entire real estate industry.

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

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The recent nomination of U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) as attorney general has the marijuana industry worried, as Sessions is a vocal opponent of marijuana and has talked about enforcing federal laws to crack down on the marijuana market, even in states where the substance is legal. The Republican Senator has repeatedly spoken out against marijuana and has been a staunch opponent of it for decades. At a Senate hearing last year, he was even quoted as saying, “Good people don’t smoke marijuana.”

There are fears that, if Sessions takes office, he will come down hard on the business by enforcing federal laws that still qualify marijuana as an illegal Schedule I drug, despite the fact that a total of 28 states currently allow medical marijuana use and eight of them also permit recreational adult use. It remains to be seen if Sessions will be given a green-light to pursue his anti-marijuana agenda or if President-elect Donald Trump, who is generally in favor of maintaining states’ rights and has spoken in favor of the marijuana industry before, will be able to convince the new Attorney General to his way of thinking.

Many in the industry are pinning their hopes on Trump, expecting the new administration to make good on its promise that it would respect states’ rights. Singlepoint, Inc. (OTC: SING), a leading provider of mobile technology and payment solutions serving various industries, including the marijuana industry via subsidiary SingleSeed, is hoping the Trump administration will support the legal cannabis industry, as the president-elect has vowed to do during his campaign for office. Presidential backing would come at a crucial moment for the industry, among a congressional push for banking reform to allow legal marijuana businesses and related businesses access to financial services.

The proposal was made by a group of 10 prominent lawmakers, in an open letter to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, asking the institution to issue clear guidance on this situation that would make it easier for the industry to access banking services. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s latest guidelines on the matter were issues in 2014, and, since then, less than three percent of the almost 12,000 federally-regulated credit unions and banks have offered their services to the marijuana industry. In the absence of federal banking support, it is up to private companies such as SingleSeed to provide financial services and payment processing options to the market. This means, however, that the industry is currently forced to largely work with cash only, which leads to an increased safety risk to the businesses and their customers, the letter notes. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network said it would review the letter but made no other comments on the issue.

Industry vendors and service providers such as SingleSeed are optimistic about the initiative, as well as the president-elect’s support, given the significant revenue that marijuana could bring to states’ budgets by being properly regulated and taxed. In many states where the substance is legal, a great portion of tax revenue is used to finance schools and substance addition programs. If the new administration does decide to crack down on the regulated marijuana industry, this will take away millions of dollars from such programs; shut down hundreds of small businesses ranging from cultivators and processors to manufacturers, testers and vendors; and will, ultimately, destroy tens of thousands of jobs, industry supporters say.

One of the first merchant service providers in the marijuana industry, Singlepoint’s subsidiary SingleSeed recently awoke from a quiet period, prompted by the unprecedented growth of the industry. The company’s main goal is to help legitimize the industry by assisting retail or medical cannabis providers grow their businesses safely and securely via state-of-the-art non-cash payment solutions and mobile marketing tools.

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

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Construction and demolition (C&D) debris occupies a significant portion of the entire waste stream in the United States, and improper disposal or failure to reuse or recycle this type of waste can have a major impact on the environment. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (http://dtn.fm/7kyMX), C&D waste amounted to more than 530 million tons in 2014, which was twice as much as the amount of solid municipal waste generated nationwide. Most of this debris (over 90 percent) came from demolition works, while the rest came from construction projects. The largest sector that generated C&D waste was non-residential demolition, followed by residential renovation, the EPA figures show.

Typically consisting of bulky, heavy materials such as wood products, steel, drywall, plaster, bricks and clay tiles, concrete and asphalt and even building components, C&D waste is more difficult to handle, so proper disposal and/or recycling often requires an extra effort on behalf of the contractor or beneficiary of the construction project. Most C&D debris ends up in a landfill, and that is considered the end of its lifecycle. However, due to the EPA’s Sustainable Materials Management approach, a growing volume of construction and demolition waste is now being recovered and recycled, thus reducing the need to mine for virgin materials.

Florida-based National Waste Management Holdings, Inc. (OTC: NWMH), a professional waste management operator offering a comprehensive suite of relevant services, is committed to recycling as much C&D waste as possible from all of its services, primarily from its 54-acre landfill located in Hernando, Florida. The landfill is authorized by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and disposes of roughly 240,000 cubic yards of C&D waste every year.

With a strong dedication to Department of Environmental Protection standards and to the Sustainable Materials Management approach, National Waste Management Holdings focuses on reducing the volume of excessive waste by recycling several C&D materials. For this purpose, it has transformed its entire line of services to focus on recycling and has plans to set up a portable waste sorting line at its landfill this year, so as to increase recyclable rates. The company receives a wide range of approved C&D waste at its landfill, including asphalt; brick; drywall and plaster; lumber and wood; pallets; dirt, sand and uncontaminated soil; roofing materials; glass; metal materials; non-asbestos insulation; electrical wiring and components; and more.

In its efforts to further reduce the environmental impact of C&D debris, National Waste Management Holdings has already found a great use for the wood debris collected through its landfill and transfer stations: it manufactures and sells its own line of proprietary mulch, a high-quality product already used to help beautify homes and commercial properties throughout west and central Florida. The mulch is made entirely of recycled wood and is available either in natural color or red dyed.

According to the EPA, reducing the amount of C&D debris disposed of in landfills can have significant economic and environmental benefits, such as preserving landfill space; having fewer disposal facilities, which can lower methane gas emissions and other associated environmental issues; reducing the negative environmental impact associated with the extraction and production of virgin construction materials; adding new economic and employment opportunities in the recycling industry; and creating additional business opportunities for local communities.

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

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