Today, customers have a lot more choice when it comes to booking accommodation for a holiday. Gone are the days when holidaymakers and travelers had no option but to book hotels for their vacations. Now, they can choose from a variety of short- and long-term house rentals, vacation homes, resorts, timeshares, and other Alternative Lodging Rentals (ALR).

Hotel companies are changing their services to suit the needs of a new generation, but, although traditional lodging has not been forgotten, it is starting to face serious competition from ALR. In fact, according to a survey undertaken by OAG published on Tnooz.com (http://dtn.fm/R5Bv6), of the 2,500 travelers questioned, two-thirds being leisure travelers with the rest taking trips for work, more than 50% would like to see accommodations from Airbnb, a major online ALR marketplace, in travel agency search results. Not only this, the majority of these people also stated that they would book such accommodations on an online travel agency if they could. But ALR options still have little or no representation in the mainstream travel industry, especially if the traveler wants instant confirmation of ALR bookings. Whether booking ALR properties through Airbnb or other services, people seeking such non-traditional accommodations still face the time-consuming hassle of waiting for the ALR property owner/manager to respond, unlike with airline or hotel bookings.

In addition, from a business travel point of view, companies seem to still be slow on the uptake. Out of the one-third of those taking trips for business, less than 5% said that their company offers Airbnb as a lodging option. However, a third of those people said they would take advantage of such lodgings if they could.

As a result of this need for integrating ALR into mainstream travel marketing, Monaker Group, Inc. (OTCQB: MKGI), a technology-driven travel company, has been developing and will soon be launching the first real-time system for booking ALR, such as vacation homes and unused timeshares, among others, on its NextTrip.com website and mobile application.

Currently, customers wanting to book alternative lodging are having to contact property owners, wait for responses, and wait for confirmation from the potential host. As a result, ALR has been one of Monaker’s key focal points, and the company believes there is a large gap in the market due to the fact that these accommodation options are currently offered separately to other alternatives such as hotels. The convenience of instant booking confirmations and the ability to perform all travel planning and booking from one site represent a major shift in the travel industry, and Monaker aims to be the company to offer it.

For more information, visit www.MonakerGroup.com

HIV, a virus that attacks the immune system to the point of destroying it if not treated correctly, remains a global epidemic. According to Healthline (http://nnw.fm/i9ptS), more than 34 million people have died from the disease since it was first discovered in 1981. Currently, there is no confirmed cure for HIV, but getting treated is extremely important for those wanting to live a normal life once diagnosed.

Although anyone infected with the virus should begin antiretroviral treatment as soon as possible, no matter what ethnicity, age, or gender, the fact is that more than half of those infected with HIV are not currently receiving treatment, often because access to treatment is unavailable.

Treatment is important to stop the virus from spreading further. It has now been proven that HIV medication can reduce the chances of transmission to an HIV-negative partner by 96%. Not only this, the medication can also reduce chances of transmission to unborn children by 90%. The medication now developed is the best chance a person has for fighting HIV, and although there is no cure, many are able to live normal lives with the virus.

HIV treatments have evolved significantly over the years. Currently, the antiretroviral drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are distinguished into four classes: Reverse Transcriptase (RT) inhibitors, Protease Inhibitors (PIs), entry or fusion inhibitors, and integrase inhibitors. To avoid the mutation of HIV cells and the resistance to single therapies, many doctors prescribe multidrug combination therapy.

CytoDyn Inc. (OTCQB: CYDY), a company committed to enhancing the lives of people with HIV, has been focusing its efforts on developing new therapies that provide flexibility and freedom to those living with the virus.

Its lead product, PRO 140, belongs to a new class of HIV therapeutics that is expected to protect healthy cells from the infection. The drug is different from many other therapies as it is not a synthetic drug and therefore has no visible issues with toxicity and side effects. In addition to the above, the studies undertaken on PRO 140 show that it does not induce the development of resistant viruses.

PRO 140 is currently one of the most advanced experimental monoclonal antibodies for HIV treatment, and CYDY believes that it will be beneficial to patients with complicating issues, such as those with single or multi-drug resistant viruses or those who have difficulty sticking to a daily drug regimen, as well as those who can’t tolerate the current therapies available due to side effects and toxicity or those with compromised organ function or complex medical requirements.

PRO 140 is currently undergoing two concurrent Phase 3 clinical trials.

For more information, visit www.CytoDyn.com

ChineseInvestors.com, Inc. (OTCQB: CIIX) is planning to open a retail store in San Gabriel, California, the same city in which the company is headquartered. The company also recently announced its new online cannabidiol (CBD) oil retail store would be operated by its newly-launched XiBiDi Biotechnology Co., Ltd subsidiary, which is headquartered in the Pudong Free-Trade Area of Shanghai, China.

XiBiDi Biotechnology will focus on the online and offline sales of health products, including a range of hemp-derived food and beverages. In a news release, Warren Wang, founder and CEO of CIIX, said he was delighted with the registration and establishment of CIIX’s new hemp company. The registration is expected to be finalized by the end of March 2017.

“XiBiDi is strategically located in the Pudong Free-Trade Area of Shanghai, China, where we have the opportunity to reach a consumer base of nearly 1.4 million people,” Wang said. “We believe that this large population affords XiBiDi an outstanding opportunity to be the provider of choice for natural hemp products.”

CIIX previously opened the world’s first online CBD product store in the Chinese language, www.ChineseCBDoil.com, in the Industrial Building of Shanghai. It will sell CBD products, which are non-toxic and non-addictive. CBD is extracted from cannabis in the form of a natural concentrate. It is thought to have value in treating epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease, and cirrhosis of the liver, as well as in easing the impact of the neurodegenerative disease ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease.

“CIIX is very excited to be the world’s first U.S. publicly traded company promoting hemp-based CBD health products and hemp foods that will help Chinese people improve their overall health,” noted Wang.

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

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Data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) show that the unemployment rate (http://dtn.fm/U7mmN) in February 2017 was 4.7%, around the lowest it has been since the financial crisis. The Bureau is also projecting a benign environment in the coming years for the skilled trades, but those blue-collar jobs of the future won’t be quite the same as the ones held by our fathers and uncles. To get and keep them will require training, the kind offered by Houston, Texas-based educational technology company ProBility Media Corp. (OTCQB: PBYA), which is out to develop the first full service training and career advancement brand for technical vocations and trades.

For the foreseeable future, the need for electricians, plumbers and HVAC (heating, ventilation & air-conditioning) technicians will remain, according to BLS statistics (http://dtn.fm/FD4Cv), and employment in these skilled trades will continue to grow. In the decade to 2024, we will need about 29 percent more electricians than we have now. About half of this demand will be driven by population growth; the rest will result from the places left by retirees.

The job markets for plumbers and HVAC tradesmen present similar prospects. The U.S. will need about 25 percent more plumbers and around 29 percent more HVAC tradesmen than it now has.

But nobody wants a plumber that leaves a leaky pipe, which is where ProBility and its suite of educational products come in. ProBility has positioned itself as a key industrial training resource for individuals, small- and medium-size businesses and enterprise customers, offering consistent, high-quality training services and materials for education, testing, and career advancement.

ProBility is the only company building the full spectrum of career training, advancement and compliance tools for tradesmen and technical experts in a wide variety of over 60 skilled professions. ProBility is executing a disruptive strategy of defragmenting the marketplace of thousands of disparate companies by acquiring companies in the areas of expertise and organically growing revenues through synergies.

Revenues for the year ended October 31, 2016, were $3.1 million, which represented a 45-percent increase over same period revenues for 2015. Revenues for the first quarter ended January 31, 2016, were $1,088,180, which represented a 24-percent year-over-year increase.

Currently, the ProBility portfolio includes the following divisions:

• Brown Technical Media Corp. – An online web business with multiple micro websites featuring training materials and codes and standards sought by engineers, construction workers, scientists and other tradesmen in a wide variety of fields
• Brown Technical Publications – A proprietary publishing business generating copyrighted training materials for engineers, construction workers, scientists and other tradesmen in a wide variety of fields
• 1ExamPrep – E-Learning, education and exam preparation for contractors via the cheapest, fastest and most effective exam prep school in the industry instituting a 4-point proven learning system
• National Electrical Wholesale Providers – In the business of distributing wholesale industrial, commercial and residential training materials, including those relating to HVAC, plumbing and electrical

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

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Singlepoint, Inc. (OTC: SING), specializing in small- to mid-sized company acquisitions, recently began funding Convectium, an organization that sells equipment in the cannabis industry. There should be “more funding on the way,” according to Singlepoint CEO Greg Lambrecht, who discussed the acquisition in a recent episode of MoneyTV with Donald Baillargeon. Convectium sells machines that fill vials with oil, and it created a unique system for filling/packaging vape cartridges and disposable vape pens. These systems, and point of sale equipment, are sold at various trade shows, according to Lambrecht.

In the phone interview, Lambrecht also revealed that Singlepoint is looking into joint ventures as part of its growth strategy. The Singlepoint CEO further talked about subsidiary SingleSeed Payments, which was recently re-activated as a means to offer legal marijuana businesses the financial tools they need to thrive. He noted that the SingleSeed.com website is very helpful for dispensaries looking for merchant payment processing solutions and other relevant tools for their business. “Once they get there, they’re going to see anywhere from three to five products that can help their dispensary do business,” he said.

Discussing several points highlighting the company’s inside sales strategy, Lambrecht also gave insights into Singlepoint’s outside sales strategy. He added, “Of course, the outside sales strategy is to continue to acquire companies that do not touch the plant, like Convectium… so we’re not affected by state or federal laws.” He also said the strategy is “to be the pick and shovel of the industry.” There are currently 26 states with medical marijuana, Lambrecht noted, emphasizing the market that is available to his organization and the potential to generate revenue.

Founded in 2006, Singlepoint is a publicly-traded holding company. Investors have access to a wide range of assets. The company’s primary solutions focus on mobile technology to allow clients to engage in communication, conduct business transactions, and accept donations. It began solely as a mobile technology provider and has grown from there. The company has since diversified into horizontal markets, built its portfolio by acquiring interests in undervalued subsidiaries, and targeted cash flow positive businesses with high potential and verified assets.

Singlepoint has a stake in a variety of solutions, in addition to products for marijuana dispensaries, including mobile payment and donations solutions. It also offers a credit card checkout system for mobile phones.

The company is headed by CEO Greg Lambrecht, who has founded and led several start-up companies, including a leading consumer product distribution company. He has also negotiated with some of the largest retail firms in the country. Singlepoint is also led by Chief Technology Officer Eric Lofdahl, who has held positions in software development, program management, engineering process definition, and more. Along with telecommunications expert Gowri Shankar, the team makes up the company’s board of directors. Wil Ralston is VP of Sales and Marketing.

To hear the full interview on the Convectium acquisition, go to https://vimeo.com/208748705

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

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Applications have transformed the mobile phone into a sort of remote control, allowing consumers to research and shop for products and services whenever they want. This, coupled with the fact that they can also pay for these products and services digitally, has created the mobile market. In China, the mobile market has become a significant channel for retailers, and blurring these lines between the physical and virtual worlds has been a great way for Chinese merchants to reach customers.

The mobile market based upon messaging has been especially important in China. Since email arrived only late in China, mobile messaging applications dominated communication, leaving the country with a market that was mobile focused. In addition, because of the number of crowded urban areas, mobile is an easier way to research and a natural platform for marketing. Mobile adoption is also helped by the fact that entrepreneurs simply want to better market and grow their businesses.

The Chinese are using mobile as a direct business to consumer sales channel, encouraging all types of communication. Chinese retailers work on the basis that innovation online engages consumers offline. By using geo-targeting, merchants can engage consumers online while still offering the in-store experience. Simply put, geo-targeting is a way of delivering content to customers based on their location. This targeting allows brands to tailor content to what customers want and need based on their current, or even past locations. This type of insight improves the customer-brand experience, allowing brands to better meet customer needs, helping them deliver services to the right place at the right time, and allowing them to find new customers thanks to the gathered data.

Moxian, Inc. (NASDAQ: MOXC), a company engaged in the business of providing social media marketing and promotion platforms designed to help merchants grow their business via social media, not only offers merchants the chance to find out where their consumers are, but also allows consumers to search for merchants. Its two core products, Moxian+ User and Moxian+ Business, work together to create the ultimate shopping experience while giving merchants insights into their consumers’ buying patterns through intelligent data analytics.

This geo-targeting is coupled with a variety of other analytical tools that help merchants get to know their customers, retain them, and push informational and promotional tools to them. The company also offers a Loyalty Program feature through its Moxian+ Business application, giving merchants the chance to do precise and predictive marketing to the right audiences. The company recently announced its transition to its Moxian+ paid platform, moving away from the no-charge beta technology it has used since its beginnings.

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

Although the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that up to 75% of the United States’ waste stream is recyclable, only 30% of it actually gets recycled each year, according to RecoverUSA.com (http://dtn.fm/C7ncW). Approximately one-third of an average landfill is made up of packaging material, with more than 60% of the landfill being paper, plastic, food waste, glass, and metal.

Only 1% of aluminum products and 1% of plastic products are recycled in the United States each year, although Americans discard 25 million plastic bottles every hour. With paper and cardboard making up most of industrial waste products, if companies establish a paper and cardboard recycling program, they would make a serious positive impact on the environment.

National Waste Management Holdings, Inc. (OTC: NWMH), a growing solid waste management company, is doing everything in its power to educate the people of Florida about the critical value of recycling. Aside from the company’s recent shift in services, NWMH has plans of transforming its fundamental business model to include a portable picking station at the company’s landfill that will help the state meet its mandate for 75% recycling by 2020.

National Waste Management believes that, despite modern-day efforts to make the world more sustainable, people do not understand the full meaning of the common catch phrase “reduce, reuse, recycle”. According to the company: “It’s a simple premise but contains logistics that most don’t consider. By the time you’re ready to recycle something, there are already many environmentally-conscious decisions that have been missed.”

The company is trying to encourage a shift in consumer focus on products that are designed better and produce less waste. Not only this, it wants to help people put more thought into reusing materials and products, as well as educate themselves on products that are made of materials that are recyclable and are accepted by their local waste management services.

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

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eXp World Holdings, Inc. (OTCQB: EXPI) will hold its annual shareholders meeting on April 27, 2017, at the Coronado Island Marriott in Coronado, California, and the company is urging eXp Realty agent-owners, entrepreneurial real estate professionals, and investors to attend. eXp World Holdings is the holding company for eXp Realty LLC, an agent-owned cloud-based real estate brokerage.

The meeting will be held against a backdrop of the company’s rapid growth to more than 3,000 agents in the U.S. and Canada, a 25% increase from the 2,401 agents recorded at the end of 2016. It took the company approximately four months to go from 2,000 to 3,000 agents, almost half the time it took to move from 1,000 agents to 2,000. The company indicated that, year-over-year, in 2015 and 2016, it enjoyed a 200% increase in agent count.

eXp Realty is a full-service residential real estate company. It offers its agents training through a fully immersive cloud-based environment. The company also attracts agents through its program of commission incentives supplemented by agent-ownership opportunities.

eXp World Holdings presented at the ROTH Conference and detailed its unique model incentives. In its February 2017 investor presentation (http://dtn.fm/3rmVJ), the company described its cloud-based campus, with its ability to eliminate brick-and-mortar expenses and support staff. The firm operates in 42 U.S. states, the District of Columbia and Alberta, Canada.

EXPI also offers agents access to eXp University, a virtual classroom experience where agents can receive more than 25 hours of training a week. Agents in the cloud environment can work from any location, invest minimal capital, share commissions, and enjoy exponential bandwidth as the number of agents grows. Ownership is earned through an incentive program.

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

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Although legal in 28 states for medicinal use, cannabis is still considered a dangerous substance in much of the country. However, many experts now believe that cannabis is a safe alternative to pharmaceuticals for relieving symptoms related to multiple illnesses. Scientific research shows that phytocannabinoids, cannabinoids that occur naturally in the cannabis plant, are effective at relieving convulsions, seizures, anxiety, nausea, and inflammation. From fighting glaucoma to controlling epileptic seizures and easing pain, scientific research has repeatedly shown the efficacy of medicinal marijuana.

Due to government misclassification of cannabis as a Schedule 1 drug, there has been only marginal progress in the utilization of phytocannabinoids, which hold such promise in disease treatment and pain mitigation. Although many pharmaceutical companies still avoid association with cannabinoids, attitudes are changing, and the medicinal benefits of marijuana are being recognized for their worth.

With changes in the acceptance of medicinal marijuana, some pharmaceutical companies are finally beginning to unpack the myriad of potential benefits phytocannabinoids hold. India Globalization Capital, Inc. (NYSE MKT: IGC) is pioneering such efforts. A multi-faceted company with global experience, India Globalization has a primary focus on developing novel cannabis-based therapies for the treatment of debilitating or life threatening conditions. The company’s current pipeline of patented drugs is focused on large market maladies, including therapeutics for neuropathic pain, human and animal seizures, refractory epilepsy, and eating disorders. Several of the company’s products are scheduled for pre-clinical trials this year.

A transformation is now underway in the medical use of cannabinoids for disease treatment, and India Globalization “believe(s) that the legalization of the cannabis industry will create an explosion in demand for cannabinoid-based pharmaceutical therapies, technology, facilities, and financial services.” With a patent portfolio of cannabinoid-based therapies, the company is well positioned for the quickly arriving time when medical cannabis gains widespread acceptance.

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

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Monaker Group, Inc. (OTCQB: MKGI), in its March 15, 2017, presentation at the ROTH Conference (http://dtn.fm/zhZm7), said that its B2B and B2C site, NextTrip.com, will be enhanced in 2Q2017 and its wholesale travel partner, Mark Travel (www.MarkTravel.com), is an important element of its strategic advantage.

Monaker Group is a high technology travel provider that offers users an all-in-one site with artificial intelligence that provides conventional travel, alternative leisure rentals (ALR), and a library of videos to help consumers and businesses choose their plans. The booking engine offers real-time digital data and reduces the time it takes to book diverse travel from hours to minutes, the company said in its ROTH Presentation slide deck.

The company said Mark Travel, through its Trisept Solutions technology firm, will power Monaker Group’s NextTrip and offer expanded product offerings and distribution. Monaker Group said Mark Travel offers both B2B and B2C advantages. In B2B, it offers its VAX XML link to more than 200 companies. Its VAX VacationAccess system is a portal for more than 70,000 travel agents and greater than 50 leisure travel suppliers, together accounting for more than $1 billion in annual bookings. In B2C, Mark Travel offers Monaker Group preferential pricing for air, car, hotel, and ground activities. It will also offer integration with its travel-linked artificial intelligence platform.

“Trisept has the most advanced technology available for leisure vacation packaging today,” commented Bill Kerby, chairman and CEO of Monaker Group. “Expanding NextTrip’s capabilities and access to agents and consumers will accelerate our growth and differentiate us from our competition.”

In addition to the technological advantages, Monaker Group’s marketing efforts are set to benefit from partnering with wholesaler Mark Travel. At $3 billion in annual sales, Mark Travel is the largest wholesaler of travel in North America. It owns Funjet Vacations, founded in 1974, which specializes in personalized and independent vacations for groups and individuals.

Mark Travel’s other brands include Southwest Vacations, United Vacations, Mark International, Showtime Tours, Blue Sky Tours, and My Destination Wellness. The company offers service to more than 1,100 destinations globally and specializes in end-to-end travel service for its clients.

To Monaker Group, Mark Travel offers Trisept Solutions, a high technology travel platform through which it offers several other booking advantages. These include VAX VacationAccess, a $1 billion booking engine that brings together more than 70,000 travel agents with more than 50 leisure travel suppliers. Also, Mark Travel brings its Xcelerator agency platform with artificial intelligence. Its Synapse provides back office travel functions on a secure and seamless platform, Monaker Group added.

For more information, visit www.MonakerGroup.com