The QualityStocks Daily Wednesday, October 25th, 2023

Today's Top 3 Investment Newsletters

ChineseWire(BHAT) $2.9000 +33.64%

QualityStocks(NB) $5.1400 +19.81%

Schaeffer's(LRN) $52.5200 +18.02%

The QualityStocks Daily Stock List

NioCorp Developments (NB)

InvestorIntel, Stock News Now and Pro-Edge reported earlier on NioCorp Developments (NB), and today we highlight the Company, here at the QualityStocks Daily Newsletter.

NioCorp Developments Ltd. (NASDAQ: NB) (TSE: NB) (FRA: BR3) is a mineral development firm focused on exploring for and developing mineral deposits in North America.

The firm has its headquarters in Centennial, Colorado and was incorporated in 1987, on February 27th. Prior to its name change in March 2013, the firm was known as Quantum Rare Earth Developments Corporation. It operates as part of the other industrial metals and mining industry, under the basic materials sector. The firm serves consumers in Canada and the United States.

The company focuses on a superalloy materials project in Southeast Nebraska for the production of niobium, scandium, and titanium. It operates in one segment, which comprises of the exploration and development of mineral deposits in North America, in particular, the Elk Creek property, which is located in Johnson County, Southeastern Nebraska.

The enterprise’s Elk Creek Property is a carbonatite deposit located in the United States, which contains elements including niobium, titanium, and scandium, as well as rare earth products. This property is situated roughly 45 miles southeast of Lincoln, Nebraska, the state capital of Nebraska. The enterprise also owns one 226.43-acre parcel of land and associated mineral rights, and an additional 40 acres of mineral rights, within the carbonatite footprint.

The company, which recently entered into definitive agreements with two separate financiers, remains focused on advancing its efforts to launch construction of the Elk Creek project and proceed to commercial operation. The success of its endeavors will help generate additional revenues as well as value for its shareholders.

NioCorp Developments (NB), closed Wednesday's trading session at $5.14, up 19.8135%, on 242,198 volume. The average volume for the last 3 months is 2.211M and the stock's 52-week low/high is $3.32/$7.83.

LianBio (LIAN)

The Online Investor, QualityStocks and MarketBeat reported earlier on LianBio (LIAN), and today we highlight the Company, here at the QualityStocks Daily Newsletter.

LianBio (NASDAQ: LIAN) is a biopharmaceutical firm that is focused on the development and commercialization of medications for the treatment of inflammatory, cardiovascular, ophthalmology, respiratory and oncology ailments.

The firm has its headquarters in Princeton, New Jersey and was incorporated in 2019. The firm serves consumers around the globe, with a focus on the United States, China and other Asian countries.

The company is party to a partnership with Nanobiotix S.A., which entails the development and commercialization for a radiosensitizer dubbed NBTXR3, which is designed to be injected into a malignant tumor before standard radiotherapy. It is also party to a partnership with Tarsus Pharmaceuticals Inc., which involves the development and commercialization of an eye solution known as TP-03, to treat Demodex blepharitis.

The enterprise’s product portfolio is made up of NH-13 for the treatment of ulcerative colitis; a formulation known as BBP-398 for the treatment of solid tumors; LYR-210 for chronic rhinosinusitis; a formulation known as infigratinib for first-line and second-line cholangio carcinoma; a formulation dubbed sisunatovir for the treatment of respiratory syncytical virus; and Omilancor for Crohn’s disease. It is also involved in the development of mavacamten, to treat heart failure with preserves ejection fraction, and non-obstructive and obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

The firm’s Infrigratinib formulation recently received approval from the Hainan Province’s Health Commission and Medical Products Administration, for the treatment of metastatic cholangio carcinoma. This move brings the firm one step closer to addressing unmet patient needs, which will benefit the patients and have a positive influence on its growth.

LianBio (LIAN), closed Wednesday's trading session at $3.46, up 14.5695%, on 37,151,040 volume. The average volume for the last 3 months is 25,281 and the stock's 52-week low/high is $1.11/$3.88.

SLANG Worldwide (SLGWF)

QualityStocks and Trades Of The Day reported earlier on SLANG Worldwide (SLGWF), and today we highlight the Company, here at the QualityStocks Daily Newsletter.

SLANG Worldwide Inc. (OTCQB: SLGWF) (CNSX: SLNG) (FRA: 84SA) is a cannabis consumer packaged goods firm that is focused on cultivating, producing and selling branded cannabis products.

The firm has its headquarters in Toronto, Canada and was incorporated in 2017, on May 29th by William Levy and Peter William J. Miller. Prior to its name change in November 2018, the firm was known as Fire Cannabis Inc. It operates as part of the drug manufacturers-specialty and generic industry, under the healthcare sector. The firm serves consumers around the globe.

The enterprise owns, licenses and/or markets 5 brands, which serve three categories: flower, inhalable concentrates and ingestibles. Its portfolio comprises of 3 distinct consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands, one retail brand and a product portfolio of 30 stock keeping units (SKUs). The enterprise brings its products to market via three channels: Emerging Markets-Strategic Partnerships in nine States; THC Free-Distribution & Ecommerce; and Core Markets-Colorado and Vermont. Its Emerging Markets include Florida, Maine, New Mexico, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Washington, West Virginia, Maryland and Puerto Rico while its Core Markets include Colorado and Vermont. The enterprise’s THC Free includes dry herb vaporizer, the Firefly 2+, line of Alchemy Naturals CBD gummies, as well as batteries and various other product components including packaging and hardware.

The company, whose latest financial results show strong growth in sales and increasing revenues, remains committed to driving its margin expansion, enhancing its bottom-line growth and positioning itself as a leader in the rapidly evolving cannabis market. This may in turn influence revenues into the firm as well as shareholder value positively.

SLANG Worldwide (SLGWF), closed Wednesday's trading session at $0.0364, even for the day, on 187 volume. The average volume for the last 3 months is 740 and the stock's 52-week low/high is $0.014/$0.0605.

FlooidCX (FLCX)

QualityStocks, Penny Picks and Damn Good Penny Picks reported earlier on FlooidCX (FLCX), and today we highlight the Company, here at the QualityStocks Daily Newsletter.

FlooidCX Corp. (OTC: FLCX) is an online complaint resolution platform that offers customer care and feedback solutions to businesses and consumers.

The firm has its headquarters in Scottsdale, Arizona and was incorporated in 2014, on January 7th by Aditya Kelagar, Richard Hue and Rosy Rodriguez. Prior to its name change in March 2019, the firm was known as Gripevine Inc. It operates as part of the consulting services industry, under the industrials sector. The firm serves consumers in the United States.

The enterprise’s unified communications and collaboration online CRM solutions include GripeVine and Resolution1. GripeVine is a consumer-to-business platform that helps build a customer-feedback-minded community. It allows for private messaging between customers and businesses for positive resolutions, so that businesses are not forced to communicate via the comments section. On the other hand, Resolution1 functions as a cloud-based customer care and feedback workflow management platform, where businesses can manage the entire logistics of customer care, feedback, or inquiries throughout their entire organizations. Businesses can respond to customers while keeping track of every customer interaction. This rewards reliable consumers and responsive businesses. The platform is designed to grow and scale so that businesses of all sizes, from small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to large enterprises, can use this cloud-based customer care and feedback management system.

The company, which recently took party in this year’s DoD Energy and Power Summit together with Quantum Energy Corp, remains committed to generating additional value for its shareholders.

FlooidCX (FLCX), closed Wednesday's trading session at $3.94, even for the day, on 10 volume. The average volume for the last 3 months is 23,701 and the stock's 52-week low/high is $0.51/$9.00.

Ceylon Graphite (CYLYF)

We reported earlier on Ceylon Graphite (CYLYF), and today we highlight the Company, here at the QualityStocks Daily Newsletter.

Ceylon Graphite Corp (OTCQB: CYLYF) (CVE: CYL) (FRA: CCY) is an exploration and mining firm focused on exploring for and producing graphite from mines in Sri Lanka.

The firm has its headquarters in Vancouver, Canada and was incorporated in 1986 on April 3rd. It operates as part of the other industrial metals and mining industry, under the basic materials sector. The firm primarily serves consumers in Canada.

The company’s aim is to help Sri Lanka tap this top resource as the country has the highest quality of vein graphite which is believed to be formed by hydrothermal fluids. It is said that graphite has been used locally as far back as the middle of the 1600s. Sri Lanka is the only area that produces commercial quantities of Vein graphite, which is also known by the names Ceylon graphite, Sri Lankan graphite, Plumbago and crystalline vein.

The enterprise is focused on business of mining for graphite and developing and commercializing graphene and graphite applications and products. It holds a land package constituting approximately 121km2 grids containing historic vein graphite deposits and approximately 4 sites for graphite production. The company, through its subsidiary, Sarcon Development (PVT) Ltd., has interests in approximately 100 zones on 1km by 1km grids to develop, construct and operate graphite mines located in Sri Lanka.

The firm, which recently appointed a new CFO with decades of experience as a chartered professional accountant, remains focused on supplying premium quality vein graphite to industries and enabling the creation of high value products. This will, in turn, drive revenues into the firm and put it on the path to becoming a relevant player in the graphite market.

Ceylon Graphite (CYLYF), closed Wednesday's trading session at $0.033, up 11.8644%, on 45,100 volume. The average volume for the last 3 months is 598,006 and the stock's 52-week low/high is $0.0215/$0.09.

Maison Luxe (MASN)

MarketClub Analysis reported earlier on Maison Luxe (MASN), and today we highlight the Company, here at the QualityStocks Daily Newsletter.

Maison Luxe Inc. (OTC: MASN) is an interior design company and retail store that offers luxury consumer items.

The firm has its headquarters in Fort Lee, New Jersey and was incorporated in 2002, on June 20th. Prior to its name change in April 2021, the firm was known as Clikia Corp. It operates as part of the luxury goods industry, under the consumer cyclical sector. The firm serves consumers across the globe, with a focus on those in the United States.

The company focuses its efforts primarily on the fine timepiece and jewelry segments, both on a wholesale and business-to-consumer (B2C) basis. Its business caters primarily to fine timepieces and jewelry with storefronts in duty-free ports in different areas, such as Alaska and the United States Virgin Islands. The company operates across three primary sales channels through which it sells its luxury retail items, namely private client direct sales; sales to wholesalers; and sales to retail stores.

The enterprise operates the Clikia App, which includes the interconnected Clikia.com website and Clikia TV. It also offers residential interior design services as well as corporate staging services, which afford potential tenants a visual sense of how their spaces can be better utilized. These packages are charged according to a client’s needs.

The firm, which has an ongoing relationship with Princess World Jewelers, remains focused on developing a stronger presence with said partner while also establishing avenues for revenue growth with other travel industry retail partners. This may positively influence investments into the firm as well as shareholder value.

Maison Luxe (MASN), closed Wednesday's trading session at $0.0018, even for the day, on 384,882 volume. The average volume for the last 3 months is 10,771 and the stock's 52-week low/high is $0.001/$0.0082.

Greenbriar Capital (GEBRF)

We reported earlier on Greenbriar Capital (GEBRF), and today we highlight the Company, here at the QualityStocks Daily Newsletter.

Greenbriar Capital Corporation (OTC: GEBRF) (CVE: GRB) is a company focused on acquiring, developing, operating and selling commercial, residential, industrial and renewable energy-related real estate and energy projects in North America.

The firm has its headquarters in Coquitlam, Canada and was incorporated in 2009, on April 2nd. It operates as part of the utilities-renewable industry, under the utilities sector. The firm mainly serves consumers in North America.

The enterprise is primarily involved in the acquisition and development of wind and solar energy farms in the United States and renewable energy projects in Canada. It is focused on its 3 primary projects, namely the Alberta Solar project, the Sage Ranch Project and the Montalva Solar Farm. The Alberta Solar Project is a portfolio of projects totaling 400 megawatts (MW) in Alberta, Canada while the Montalva Solar Project is 320MW DC and 160MW AC photovoltaic (PV) electricity generating solar facility located in the municipalities of Guanica and Lajas, Puerto Rico. The Sage Ranch Project is a 1000-unit entry-level sustainable residential community located in California. It is a Greenbriar sustainable residential community, which is a 138-acre site located between the parallel arterial roads of Valley Boulevard and Pinon Street near Downtown Tehachapi.

The company, which recently announced that its recession-proof Sage Ranch sustainable living subdivision, was scheduled for a Planning Commission meeting to approve the Sage Ranch Precise Development Plan, remains committed to matching the demands of a new sustainable world. This is in addition to generating significant returns for its stakeholders.

Greenbriar Capital (GEBRF), closed Wednesday's trading session at $0.8264, off by 3.907%, on 7,100 volume. The average volume for the last 3 months is 802,946 and the stock's 52-week low/high is $0.45/$1.13.

Curaleaf Holdings Inc. (CURLF)

InvestorPlace, Kiplinger Today, MarketBeat, QualityStocks, Cabot Wealth, Daily Trade Alert, Top Pros' Top Picks, MarketClub Analysis, Profit Trends, The Online Investor, StreetInsider, Wealth Insider Alert, Early Bird, Trades Of The Day, Trading For Keeps, The Street, Investment U, Daily Profit, CFN Media Group, StreetAuthority Daily, Zacks, TradersPro, Wyatt Investment Research, wyatt research newsletter and Schaeffer's reported earlier on Curaleaf Holdings Inc. (CURLF), and today we highlight the Company, here at the QualityStocks Daily Newsletter.

Approximately twice as many individuals in the United States perceive that smoking cigarettes poses a more substantial threat to one’s well-being compared to smoking cannabis, and they are correct. Numerous investigations examining the prolonged health consequences of inhaling marijuana smoke dispel the myth that cannabis carries the same well-established detrimental respiratory risks as tobacco.

A case in point is the federally funded study conducted at the University of California where researchers examined the lifetime risk of developing lung cancer among more than 2,000 individuals who were long-term users of marijuana and tobacco or abstained from smoking. The results revealed that those who habitually indulged in tobacco smoking were confronted with a lung cancer risk 20 times higher than nonsmokers, while those who exclusively smoked marijuana showed no increase in their risk.

The lead author of the study expressed that the team’s initial hypothesis of a positive link between marijuana use and lung cancer was entirely refuted as the findings indicated no association and even suggested a potential protective effect.

In a more recent study, a group of healthcare experts contributing to the “Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases” journal ascertained that past or current cannabis smokers, regardless of cumulative lifetime consumption, did not experience a progression or onset of COPD.

Various other studies assert that the carcinogenic properties of cannabis smoke do not rival those of tobacco and individuals who exclusively use marijuana are exposed to fewer carcinogens and toxicants. Some scientists also propose that the anticancer properties of cannabinoids may mitigate the potential harms associated with inhaling smoke.

Recent research published in the “American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care” reiterates the distinction, emphasizing that cannabis impacts lung function differently from tobacco. The consequences of widespread cannabis use do not necessarily mirror the harm attributed to tobacco smoking.

A review paper, authored by researchers at the University of Arkansas, unambiguously underscores the contrast, stating that the evidence regarding marijuana stands in stark contrast to the consistent proof of harm from tobacco, the world’s most lethal legal substance. Any conceivable toxicity related to marijuana pales in comparison.

This is not to imply that exposure to cannabis smoke is completely harmless. Marijuana smoke does contain some of the same toxins and particulates found in cigarette smoke. Certain studies have linked cannabis smoking to transient increases in sputum production, wheezing and an elevated bronchitis risk.

Nonetheless, adopting a vaporizer can substantially diminish exposure to combustive toxins. Laboratory research demonstrates that herbal marijuana vaporizers serve as an effective and safer medium for delivering THC, avoiding the inhalation of combustion byproducts. Furthermore, marijuana compounds can be incorporated into a diverse array of products that negate the need for smoking, including edibles and beverages.

The consistent message conveyed by these studies is unmistakable: the disparities in risks between marijuana and tobacco smoke are undeniably significant. This provides additional validation for the belief by enterprises in the cannabis space such as Curaleaf Holdings Inc. (CSE: CURA) (OTCQX: CURLF) that not only has marijuana been unfairly maligned for decades, its supposed risks have also been grossly exaggerated by prohibitionists.

Curaleaf Holdings Inc. (CURLF), closed Wednesday's trading session at $3.175101, off by 9.7983%, on 575,823 volume. The average volume for the last 3 months is 10.579M and the stock's 52-week low/high is $2.19/$7.90.

Workhorse Group Inc. (WKHS)

Green Car Stocks, InvestorPlace, MarketClub Analysis, QualityStocks, Schaeffer's, Kiplinger Today, MarketBeat, StocksEarning, StockMarketWatch, TradersPro, StreetInsider, Early Bird, The Street, Trades Of The Day, StockEarnings, Daily Trade Alert, The Online Investor, TraderPower, TopPennyStockMovers, BUYINS.NET, Zacks, Wealth Insider Alert, GreenCarStocks, InvestorsUnderground, Jason Bond, Cabot Wealth, Marketbeat.com, PoliticsAndMyPortfolio, StockOodles, The Night Owl, Money Wealth Matters, Profitable Trader Authority, Wealth Daily, Stock Beast, Energy and Capital, The Best Newsletters, Daily Market Beat and The Wealth Report reported earlier on Workhorse Group Inc. (WKHS), and today we highlight the Company, here at the QualityStocks Daily Newsletter.

A recent influx of cheap Chinese battery electric vehicles (BEVs) into the European market has European Union leaders worried. While most nations with EV transition plans have invested in EV subsidies and incentives, China is spending much more on its domestic electric vehicle industry.

The Chinese government has invested billions of dollars into subsidizing the EV production process, allowing local automakers to price their electric cars much lower than other car makers. With competition in China’s EV market heating up by the day, Chinese carmakers such as BYD are starting to expand to European markets.

Their affordable offerings stand out in stark contrast to the expensive EVs offered by Western carmakers, including Tesla and Mercedes, making the Chinese versions more attractive to European customers. Even though European leaders aren’t thrilled about Chinese EV makers taking over their markets, EU drivers love Chinese electric cars.

For example, when Copenhagen, Denmark, resident Laima Springe-Janssen was looking for a car to replace her internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle, she considered Nissan and Volvo as replacement vehicles. However, with the Volvo being quite costly with the extras included and the Nissan lacking the “wow factor” she was looking for, Springe-Janssen bought a compact BYD SUV for around $50,000.

On top of being relatively affordable with all the bells and whistles, the Atto 3 SUV came with an extra winter tire set as well as two years of free charging. Springe-Janssen’s husband liked the Chinese EV so much he is thinking of replacing his Volkswagen Skoda with a BYD model. Chinese carmakers have won over Springe-Janssen, her husband, and many other European drivers in recent months as these companies have expanded into Europe.

By mid-September, so many Chinese electric cars were flooding into Europe that the European Commission launched a probe into whether EV subsidies by China’s government were artificially lowering electric vehicle prices and making it difficult for Western automakers to compete. The commission has 12 months to determine whether the region should impose additional car tariffs on Chinese vehicle imports.

While this move may make the market more competitive for European carmakers, it likely won’t go well with customers who generally prefer affordable products; it could also draw the ire of the Chinese government. The Chinese Chamber of Commerce said it opposed the investigation and argued that subsidies were not responsible for the country’s competitive edge in the EV sector.

For some U.S. companies that are investing in developing electric trucks and other specialized vehicles, such as Workhorse Group Inc. (NASDAQ: WKHS), the competition isn’t yet as stiff and they could make inroads into their chosen market segments before other players join the space.

Workhorse Group Inc. (WKHS), closed Wednesday's trading session at $0.407, up 0.817439%, on 3,424,980 volume. The average volume for the last 3 months is 539,892 and the stock's 52-week low/high is $0.375/$2.98.

atai Life Sciences N.V. (ATAI)

QualityStocks, MarketBeat, The Online Investor, StockMarketWatch, Dynamic Wealth Report, StreetInsider, MarketClub Analysis, Small Caps, Uncommon Wisdom, Marketbeat.com, CRWEWallStreet, PennyToBuck, CRWEPicks, InsiderTrades, CRWEFinance, BestOtc, DrStockPick, PennyOmega, Schaeffer's, StockHotTips, TraderPower, Awareness Stocks, StockOodles, Street Insider, The Street, TopPennyStockMovers, Broad Street and ProTrader reported earlier on atai Life Sciences N.V. (ATAI), and today we highlight the Company, here at the QualityStocks Daily Newsletter.

A federal appeals court panel has begun hearing arguments in a case involving a Seattle doctor who sued the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration for denying his patients access to psilocybin therapy and who is now asking the federal government to reschedule the psychedelic. The suit is part of the Seattle-based doctor’s efforts to expand psilocybin access to terminally ill patients to treat anxiety and end-of-life depression.

Psychedelics such as psilocybin, or magic mushrooms, are all the rage these days thanks to a growing body of research indicating they have potent mental health benefits. Dr. Sunil Aggarwal wanted to use psilocybin, a psychedelic extracted from mushrooms, to help terminal patients at his clinic deal with the anxiety and depression caused by their impending mortality.

The doctor first tried to access the drug for his patients under federal and state right-to-try laws that allow terminally ill patients to use “investigational medications” that still haven’t been approved, but the DEA rejected his request. Aggarwal then sued the DEA, but his lawsuit was ultimately dismissed in early 2022, prompting him to file a formal DEA petition to move psilocybin from Schedule I to Schedule II of the Controlled Substances Act in February 2022.

The DEA rejected the doctor’s petition again and said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had to determine that a substance has an accepted medical use as a prerequisite to rescheduling. In a letter to Aggarwal, the DEA said that the FDA did not outline any accepted medical use for psilocybin and noted that the psychedelic would remain in Schedule I. The ongoing case is Aggarwal’s challenge to the DEA’s latest rejection and will be presided over by Judges Bridget Bade, Daniel Bress and Sandra Ikuta.

While DEA lawyers say their rescheduling petition did not pass the five-part test used to determine if a substance has an accepted medical use, Aggarwal’s lawyers say the test isn’t legal in the first place. According to Matt Zorn, one of the lawyers representing the Seattle-based doctor, the idea that the rescheduling petition doesn’t address the test’s five elements isn’t true.

During oral arguments, Zorn cited a review paper filed alongside the petition that meets all five parts of the test requirements; however, he said the DEA did not evaluate the paper. He also argued that the DEA is using the test to prevent doctors from using treatments that are proven to be safe and effective.

As many more companies such as atai Life Sciences N.V. (NASDAQ: ATAI) publish their research findings in the quest to commercialize psychedelic drugs, regulatory authorities including the FDA and DEA could soon have no choice but to reschedule numerous psychedelic compounds.

atai Life Sciences N.V. (ATAI), closed Wednesday's trading session at $1.19, off by 3.252%, on 622,597 volume. The average volume for the last 3 months is 2.129M and the stock's 52-week low/high is $1.14/$3.65.

Canaan Inc. (CAN)

QualityStocks, MarketClub Analysis, Schaeffer's, InvestorPlace, TradersPro, StockEarnings, StreetInsider, Stockhouse, MarketBeat, AllPennyStocks, INO Market Report, BUYINS.NET, CryptoCurrencyWire, InvestorsUnderground, Stock Fortune Teller, Trades Of The Day, StockMarketWatch, StocksEarning, The Online Investor, The Street, TopStockAnalysts and SmarTrend Newsletters reported earlier on Canaan Inc. (CAN), and today we highlight the Company, here at the QualityStocks Daily Newsletter.

The Australian government is pushing ahead with its efforts to oversee the crypto asset industry, specifically focusing on regulating crypto exchanges, a move that would possibly require the government to secure a license from the nation’s financial regulatory authority. The Australian Treasury unveiled a consultation paper, titled “Regulating crypto-asset platforms,” on Oct. 16, 2023, outlining a regulatory framework that aims to not only safeguard consumers but also foster innovation in the digital asset industry.

The main idea behind the new framework is to control crypto exchanges and service providers rather than the actual tokens or cryptocurrencies. Furthermore, rather than creating new regulations unique to cryptocurrencies, exchanges will be governed by already-existing financial services laws.

Under the new regulation, any exchange holding assets exceeding AUD$5 million or more than AUD$1,500 per client will be obligated to secure a license from the Australian financial regulator, ASIC.

The proposal has elicited conflicting responses from Australian crypto exchanges. Adam Percy, general counsel for Australian crypto exchange Swyftx, described the proposal as “thoughtful” and concurred that the main goal should be to guarantee that users of cryptocurrencies can use blockchain technology with the necessary protections and that there is space for innovation.

On the other hand, Kraken Australia’s director, Jonathon Miller, expressed his disappointment, characterizing the paper as an attempt to awkwardly fit crypto into the existing framework of financial services regulation. Miller further stated that Australia lags behind global peers in implementing a comprehensive crypto regulatory framework, thus creating a need for regulations to provide certainty for crypto platforms in Australia.

Miller also emphasized the need for government collaboration to ensure that innovations in crypto outside conventional financial services are not stifled.

Clyde & Co. law firm partner Liam Hennessy stated that the proposals outlined in the paper are not legally binding but rather mere suggestions that the government could decide whether or not to follow. He also observed that the paper may not sufficiently address more immediate challenges faced by the Australian crypto sector, such as the recent trend of debanking. Many licensed digital asset exchanges, both domestic and international, are grappling with the difficulty of finding suitable banking arrangements.

The treasury stated that the purpose of the consultation paper is to obtain input on the various questions and regulatory proposals within it. Stakeholders have been encouraged to submit their feedback by the end of November.

The regulatory developments for the crypto space in jurisdictions such as Australia may act as springboards for countries where companies such as Canaan Inc. (NASDAQ: CAN) operate to pick lessons and design their own regulations for the industry.

Canaan Inc. (CAN), closed Wednesday's trading session at $1.98, up 2.5907%, on 2,492,228 volume. The average volume for the last 3 months is 2.489M and the stock's 52-week low/high is $1.64/$3.98.

Cronos Group Inc. (CRON)

InvestorPlace, Schaeffer's, Kiplinger Today, MarketClub Analysis, The Street, MarketBeat, StocksEarning, Daily Trade Alert, Trades Of The Day, Wealth Insider Alert, The Online Investor, Market Intelligence Center Alert, StockMarketWatch, QualityStocks, StreetInsider, BUYINS.NET, The Wealth Report, Zacks, StockEarnings, Stock Up Featured, Investopedia, Top Pros' Top Picks, Cabot Wealth, Daily Profit, InvestmentHouse, InsiderTrades, Early Bird, The Rich Investor, Jim Cramer, Wall Street Window, VectorVest, Money Morning, InvestorsUnderground, TheTradingReport, 24/7 Trader, Small Cap Firm, Stock Gumshoe and InvestorsObserver Team reported earlier on Cronos Group Inc. (CRON), and today we highlight the Company, here at the QualityStocks Daily Newsletter.

Canada legalized recreational cannabis in October 2018 via the Cannabis Act and allowed the cultivation, production, import, export, distribution, purchase, sale and consumption of recreational cannabis by legal adults. The country’s cannabis industry reached $4.4 billion in value in 2022 and is expected to hit $7.7 billion by 2026.

However, even though around 27% of the population has reportedly used cannabis in the past 12 months and recreational cannabis has been legal for half a decade now, stigma about cannabis still persists throughout the country.

Legalization was swiftly followed by a rush of new cannabis shops in several Canadian cities, but many users still contend with cannabis-related stigma. Kate Grimmell, a budtender in LaSalle-based Greentown Cannabis, gives the example of her favorite customer, an elderly woman who still hasn’t told her daughter she uses cannabis and hides her purchases to keep her consumption secret.

While some Canadians are open about their cannabis use and treat the drug the same way they would treat buying alcohol at a liquor store, some people go to great lengths to hide the fact that they use cannabis, Grimmell says. Such people refuse to create accounts with cannabis dispensaries to avoid leaving a paper trail because they are worried about what other people would think if their cannabis use was discovered.

Canadian law has also severely limited the recreational cannabis industry’s ability to market and advertise itself. Facebook and Instagram’s parent company Meta has banned cannabis marketing on all its platforms as well. In addition, Google does not allow ads that promote the sale and use of marijuana.

Greentown Cannabis’s operator Katzman Enterprises vice president Palash Tiwari explains that cannabis stores cannot advertise on billboards. Tiwari says that while the recreational industry is grateful to the government for issuing many cannabis licenses, restrictive cannabis marketing policies severely limit the sector’s ability to reach customers.

According to Windsor-Essex County Health Unit (WECHU) director of public health programs Eric Nadalin, recreational cannabis legalization has been accompanied by a “slight increase” in cannabis-related emergency room visits and hospitalizations. WECHU’s data shows that there were only 76 marijuana-related hospitalizations per 100,000 Canadians in 2018; however, the number ballooned to 101 in 2021.

Nadalin says the increase is due to accidental cannabis poisonings, traffic accidents caused by intoxicated driving and marijuana’s effect on young brains. He noted that we should ensure members of the community are aware of the risk of consuming “legal but harmful” products like alcohol and cannabis.

The persisting stigma against people who use marijuana either for medical or recreational reasons may be having some impact on the licensed companies that are active in this regulated industry, such as Cronos Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CRON) (TSX: CRON), in one way or the other.

Cronos Group Inc. (CRON), closed Wednesday's trading session at $1.78, off by 4.3011%, on 1,068,459 volume. The average volume for the last 3 months is 30,884 and the stock's 52-week low/high is $1.64/$3.616.

The QualityStocks Company Corner

Ucore Rare Metals Inc. (TSX.V: UCU) (OTCQX: UURAF)

The QualityStocks Daily Newsletter would like to spotlight Ucore Rare Metals Inc. (TSX.V: UCU) (OTCQX: UURAF).

Last week, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce announced that it would cut graphite exports in a move that has the potential to cripple the global electric vehicle industry. With tensions between China and the United States and its allies rising in recent years, nations such as the U.S. are keen on cutting their reliance on China to limit the Asian country's leverage in the nascent electric vehicle industry. Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) are powered by lithium-ion batteries and produce zero emissions at the tailpipe, making them a perfect replacement for the internal combustion engine (ICE) cars that currently rule the roads. In fact, most Western nations have pledged to replace ICE vehicles with BEVs over the next couple of decades and are currently investing billions of dollars into building local EV fleets. However, China plays an overwhelmingly large role in the global battery metals market, producing a majority of key EV battery metals in a monopoly that has left many Western leaders worried. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce's recent cut of graphite exports is an example of how precarious the electric vehicle supply chain is thanks to China's monopoly. Last year alone, China produced almost two-thirds of the world's graphite supply and nearly all of the world's spherical graphite. As China escalates its trade war with the United States by curbing exports of critical metals, the work being done by North American companies such as Ucore Rare Metals Inc. (TSX.V: UCU) (OTCQX: UURAF) is vital to ensuring that America and other western powers can have dependable supply chains of the needed metals to keep the transition to EVs on course.

Ucore Rare Metals Inc. (TSX.V: UCU) (OTCQX: UURAF) is a critical metals (“CM”) separation technology company executing an ESG-centered plan toward establishing a comprehensive North American critical metals supply chain. The company has developed a transformative commercial-ready technology, RapidSX™, for separating and purifying critical metals. Ucore intends to deploy this technology in pursuit of a CM supply chain independent of China for Western original equipment manufacturers (“OEMs”), most notably in the automotive and renewable energy industries.

Ucore’s vision is to become a leading advanced technology company providing best-in-class metal separation products and services to the mining and mineral extraction industry. Its initial focus is on processing heavy and light rare earth elements (“REEs”), disrupting a supply chain that is dominated by China.

China currently controls about 80% of the world’s access to REE mining projects and over 90% of the world’s REE processing capabilities, and it produces about 95% of the goods containing REE components.

 

Ucore is working to scale Western supply needs by establishing REE separation and rare earth oxide (“REO”) production capabilities in cooperation with strategic upstream supply and downstream offtake partnerships. The company, along with its industry partners, aims to unlock access to Western REEs for current consumer, energy, manufacturing and military sectors.

By 2025, Ucore expects to commercially separate U.S.-friendly sources of REEs and supply OEMs with REOs required to produce rare earth permanent magnets (“REPMs”) – the essential component of electric motors and generators required to support the world’s transition to electrification and sustainable energy sources.

The company intends to contribute to this initiative through the near-term development of a heavy and light rare-earth processing facility in Louisiana and subsequent development of Strategic Metals Complexes (SMCs) in Alaska and Canada, as well as through the longer-term development of its 100%-owned Heavy Rare Earth Element (HREE) mineral resource property at Bokan Mountain on Prince of Wales Island, Alaska.

Ucore is headquartered in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Projects & Technology

RapidSX™ Demonstration Plant

The Kingston, Ontario, RapidSX™ Demonstration Plant commissioning process is underway. Once commissioned, the plant is designed to demonstrate the commercial capabilities of the RapidSX technology platform.

The RapidSX demo plant will show:

  • The techno-economic advantages of the RapidSX technology platform
  • The processing of tens of tons of heavy and light mixed rare earth element concentrates in a simulated production environment
  • The platform’s ability to operate for thousands of semi-continuous run-time hours
  • Production of high-purity NdPr, praseodymium, neodymium, terbium and dysprosium rare earth elements for early OEM product qualification trials

The demo plant is located within Ucore’s 5,000-square-foot RapidSX Commercialization and Demonstration Facility and is run by its laboratory partner, Kingston Process Metallurgy Inc. (“KPM”).

RapidSX™ Technology

Innovation Metals Corp., acquired by the company in 2020, developed the RapidSX separation technology platform with early-stage assistance from the United States Department of Defense, later resulting in the production of commercial-grade, separated rare earth elements at pilot scale.

RapidSX combines the time-proven chemistry of conventional solvent extraction (SX) with a new column-based platform that significantly reduces time to completion and plant footprint, as well as potentially lowering capital and operating costs. SX is the international REE industry’s standard commercial separation technology and is currently used by all REE producers worldwide for bulk commercial separation of both heavy and light REEs.

Utilizing similar chemistry to conventional SX, RapidSX is not a “new” technology, but it represents a significant improvement on the well-established, well-understood, proven conventional SX separation technology preferred by REE producers.

Strategic Metals Complex

Ucore, engineering partner Mech-Chem Associates Inc. and KPM are developing the full-scale engineering for the company’s first Strategic Metals Complex (SMC). The SMC is a planned REE separation and rare earth oxide production plant slated to commence construction in Louisiana in 2023. It is scheduled to initially process 2,000 tons of total rare earth oxides by the end of 2024, increasing to 5,000 tons in 2026.

The company has three initial U.S.-friendly feedstock agreements in place for the Louisiana complex, along with multiple developing offtake agreements. It received a C$16 million+ incentive package offer from Louisiana Economic Development to support construction of the SMC.

Bokan-Dotson Ridge REE Deposit

Ucore has invested over C$35 million to establish and validate the Bokan-Dotson Ridge resource in preparation for mine design and permitting. Initial drilling is complete, and a Preliminary Economic Assessment has been issued. Next steps for the project include a feasibility study, detailed mine design and permit acquisition. The project can be “near shovel ready” for construction in less than 30 months after receipt of the next stage of development funding.

Market Opportunity

According to a report by Grand View Research, the global rare earth elements market was valued at $2.8 billion in 2018 and is forecast to reach a value of $5.6 billion by 2025, achieving a CAGR of 10.4% during the period. Market growth is driven by increasing demand for these elements in the manufacturing of magnets and catalysts for the automotive industry. Rising demand for electric vehicles to reduce CO2 emissions is expected to propel the use of permanent magnets in the production of EV batteries.

China is the major producer and consumer of REEs. To maintain self-sufficiency and to meet future demand, China has been raising the export tariffs on rare earth elements shipped to various countries, including the U.S., Japan, India, Brazil and the European Union. This led to the current supply-demand gap in these countries, as they rely on imports from China.

China reduced the exports of REEs by 72% in the second half of 2010 to preserve its reserves of these elements and continues to export REEs at reduced levels, thereby affecting industries such as automotive, oil and gas, and electronics, which require an ample amount of rare earth elements.

Management Team

Pat Ryan, P.Eng., is Chairman and CEO of Ucore Rare Metals. He began as a director with the company when he developed a heightened interest in critical metals. Before joining Ucore, he founded and led a multimillion-dollar automotive OEM design and lean manufacturing company. His understanding of complex supply chains across international markets has led to a prime positioning as the global auto industry transitions to vehicle electrification. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree from Dalhousie University.

Peter Manuel is Vice President and CFO of Ucore. Prior to joining the company, he practiced as a Chartered Accountant for more than 17 years, providing consulting services to companies in a range of industries, with a focus on the financial services and resource sectors. He spent 10 years in England and Ireland providing assurance, strategic planning, corporate finance and other consulting services to a portfolio of both public and private entities. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from Dalhousie University.

Michael Schrider, MEng, P.E., is Vice President and COO of Ucore. He is a multidisciplinary engineer who has been involved in manufacturing, engineering and managing complex structural and mechanical systems projects since 1989. He was the Founder, President and Chief Engineer of Schrider & Associates and Alton Bay Design, both engineering services firms. He holds a bachelor’s degree in naval architecture and marine engineering from the University of New Orleans and a master’s degree in mining, geological and geophysical engineering from the University of Arizona.

Mark MacDonald is Vice President of Investor Relations at Ucore. He has over 25 years of experience implementing award winning business development and marketing programs at regional and national levels. As Vice President of Sales, he was responsible for Mediapro Communication’s growth as AT&T Canada’s leading B2B sales partner. He subsequently became Atlantic Regional Vice President of AT&T Canada Corp. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Dalhousie University.

Ucore Rare Metals Inc. (UURAF), closed Wednesday's trading session at $0.4336, up 0.509968%, on 28,526 volume. The average volume for the last 3 months is 109,885 and the stock's 52-week low/high is $0.395/$1.15.

Recent News

Sekur Private Data Ltd. (CSE: SKUR) (OTCQB: SWISF) (FRA: GTD0)

The QualityStocks Daily Newsletter would like to spotlight Sekur Private Data Ltd. (CSE: SKUR) (OTCQB: SWISF) (FRA: GTD0).

FMW Media Corp.'s New to The Street and Sekur Private Data, Ltd. (OTCQB: SWISF) (CSE: SKUR) (FRA: GDT0) ($SWISF) (Sekur®) announce a new contract for television airings and other multi-media content and streaming. Throughout 2024, New to the Street will continue to film interviews with Mr. Alain Ghiai, CEO of SWISF . The popular viewership on the "Sekur Privacy & Sekur Security - The Weekly Hack" segment will continue with internet privacy expert Mr. Alain Ghiai, CEO, Sekur Private Data Ltd. (OTCQX: SWISF) (CSE: SKUR) (FRA: GDT0) ($SWISF) (Sekur®) and TV Host Ana Berry talking about current and ongoing cybersecurity risks and how Sekur 's services can significantly minimize potential problems. As a Swiss-based Company, Sekur Private Data, Ltd.'s interviews focus on the Company's unique and proprietary military-grade Swiss hosted encrypted communications platform services and the importance of its operations being in Switzerland, a country with very tough privacy laws . SekurVPN, SekurMail, SekurMessenger and other Sekur services are affordable, private, and secure applications available for individuals, businesses, enterprises, telecom operators and governmental agencies. With hackers increasingly causing privacy breaches, Sekur has immediate solutions to combat such nefarious acts, such as "BEC" Business Email Compromise .

Sekur Private Data Ltd. (CSE: SKUR) (OTCQB: SWISF) (FRA: GTD0) is a Cybersecurity and Internet privacy provider of Swiss hosted solutions for secure and private communications. The company distributes a suite of encrypted e-mails, secure messengers and secure communication tools. Sekur Private Data Ltd. sells its products through its own website at www.Sekur.com, approved distributors, and telecommunications companies. Sekur Private Data Ltd. serves consumers, businesses and governments worldwide.

Customer information is completely confidential and safely stored in Switzerland using military grade security. All data, whether physical, network-based or encryption security, is stored in bank-approved, state-of-the-art ISO-certified data centers used by Swiss and global banks and most United Nations organizations, as well as many corporations and governmental organizations. All user data is protected by the Swiss Federal Data Protection Act and the Swiss Federal Data Protection Ordinance, which offer some of the strongest privacy protection in the world for both individuals and organizations.

The company owns 100% of its own infrastructure and, unlike its competitors, does not rely on third party cloud services like Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure Cloud or Google cloud infrastructure.

Sekur Private Data has chosen Switzerland to locate its data storage because of the country’s neutrality, independence, strong privacy laws, long standing political stability and excellent international relations. Switzerland is also home to several large multinational corporations and is ranked as having one of the strongest and most competitive economies in the world.

The company is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario.

Products

Sekur Private Data distributes a privacy communications suite offering encrypted and private email, the only Swiss-hosted privacy VPN, and a secure and private messaging application. All solutions cater to consumers, SMBs, enterprises and governments.

  • SekurMail® is an encrypted email service offering a private, safe and powerful tool to communicate with everyone, either within the Sekur ecosystem or outside. SekurMail protects personal information and communications from being accessed by unauthorized parties. Its encryption and other security measures prevent messages from being intercepted, modified or tampered with, either in transit or while stored. SekurMail empowers the client to access information and communicate with anyone in the world, regardless of geographical or political barriers.
  • SekurVPN® creates a secure, encrypted connection between the client’s device and the Internet, giving clients access to the web safely and privately by routing their connections through a server and hiding their online actions. All the data sent and received is hidden from prying eyes. This includes the clients’ Internet Service Providers, as well as potential hackers and even government surveillance agencies. It can also help clients bypass geographical restrictions and censorship.
  • SekurMessenger® is a Swiss-hosted private and secure messaging communications app providing secure and private chat, self-deleting chat, voice recording and file transfer via any mobile device, tablet or desktop computer. Communications are transmitted only within secure servers. It’s designed for organizations that need to protect their flow of information and secure their communications with customers and partners. SekurMessenger is designed to provide military-grade encryption and privacy by ensuring that only the sender and intended recipient can read the messages exchanged. It works for both licensed users of the app and intended message recipients who do not have the app.

Market Opportunity

An analysis from ReportLinker forecasts that the global cybersecurity market will grow from an estimated $173.5 billion in 2022 to $266.2 billion by 2027, recording a CAGR of 8.9% for the period.

The increased number of data breaches worldwide, the ability of malicious actors to operate from anywhere in the world, the links between cyberspace and physical systems and the difficulty of reducing vulnerabilities and consequences in complex cyber networks are some factors that are driving cybersecurity market growth, according to the report.

The global data privacy software market was estimated to be worth $1.68 billion in 2021 and is expected to grow from $2.36 billion in 2022 to $25.85 billion by 2029, achieving an eye-popping 40.8% CAGR during the forecast period, according to a Fortune Business Insights report titled ‘Data Privacy Software Market 2022-2029’.

The widespread shift toward remote working culture, evolving government data privacy regulations and the rapidly increasing adoption of Internet-of-Things devices are among the major factors propelling market growth, per the report.

Management Team

Alain Ghiai is founder, CEO and Director at Sekur Private Data. He also founded GlobeX Data S.A. (GDSA) in 2007 and has served as Director and CEO since then. He founded GlobeX Data Inc. (GlobeX US) in August 2012 and has served as Director and CEO since that time. He attended the California College of Arts in San Francisco, where he earned a Bachelor of Architecture. He has over 15 years of experience in the software industry and was instrumental in taking Sekur Private Data public in July 2019.

Scott Davis, CPA, CGA, is CFO at Sekur Private Data. He is also a partner at Cross Davis & Company LLP Chartered Professional Accountants. His experience includes CFO positions at several companies listed on the TSX Venture Exchange. He spent four years at Appleby as an Assistant Financial Controller. Prior to that, he spent two years at Davison & Company Chartered Professional Accountants as Auditor, five years with Pacific Opportunity Capital as Accounting Manager and two years at Jacobson Soda and Hosak, Chartered Professional Accountants. He obtained his CPA, CGA in 2003.

Learn more about the company’s management team by visiting its corporate page.

Sekur Private Data Ltd. (OTCQB: SWISF), closed Wednesday's trading session at $0.0857, even for the day, on 10,955 volume. The average volume for the last 3 months is and the stock's 52-week low/high is $1.15/$.

Recent News

NextPlat Corp. (NASDAQ: NXPL) (NASDAQ: NXPLW)

The QualityStocks Daily Newsletter would like to spotlight NextPlat Corp. (NASDAQ: NXPL) (NASDAQ: NXPLW).

In an incredibly competitive market such as e-commerce, where 90% of companies fail, marketing is key to standing out from the competition and maintaining profitability. The right marketing channel mix can help you drive traffic to your merchant sites, increase conversions and boost your virtual store's revenue. Although billions of people buy and sell online every year, attracting and retaining customers to a platform can be incredibly difficult. Traditional marketing techniques may not translate well to e-commerce. Even with the right techniques, you may not have much marketing success if you don't devise a proper mix of marketing channels. e-Commerce platforms such as NextPlat Corp. (NASDAQ: NXPL) (NASDAQ: NXPLW) are helping many virtual businesses extend their reach, and leveraging the marketing channels above can give such businesses an extra edge over their competitors.

NextPlat Corp. (NASDAQ: NXPL) (NASDAQ: NXPLW), a next generation e-commerce platform, was created with vision and purpose to capitalize on high growth sectors and global markets. The company collaborates with businesses – large and small – to simplify and accelerate online commerce and uniquely enables customers and partners to optimize their e-commerce reach, presence and revenue. NextPlat recently launched a new e-commerce development program to provide American businesses with easy access to the massive Chinese consumer market.

Current Initiatives

NextPlat provides cutting edge technology in an advanced e-commerce ecosystem. The company is actively expanding its global network of online storefronts serving thousands of consumers, enterprises and governments. The company also has developed a next generation platform built for Web3 that enables the creation and sale of digital assets, as well as optimizing e-commerce transactions and business building activities. The company’s current initiatives include:

  • E-Commerce Development Program – In April 2023, NextPlat announced it had entered into a merchant sourcing agreement with Alibaba.com Singapore E-Commerce Private Limited (“Alibaba”) and its Tmall Global e-commerce platform whereby the two companies will collaborate to increase the sale of products produced and sold by American companies to the multi-trillion-dollar Chinese consumer market. Alibaba’s Tmall Global e-commerce platform will provide NextPlat customers a turn-key solution through which products can be sold to the Chinese consumer market. The launch of the Florida E-Commerce Development Program is the first in a series of new NextPlat programs designed to assist U.S. businesses in expanding their online sales capabilities to reach new international customers in the Chinese market. NextPlat intends to rapidly expand this unique e-commerce development opportunity to businesses throughout the United States and all of North America, as well as Central and South America. The new development program features NextPlat’s turnkey global e-commerce solution for customers and leverages NextPlat’s relationships with key partners, including Tmall Global, China’s largest cross-border B2C online marketplace.
  • Progressive Care Inc. – In August 2022, NextPlat completed a strategic $7 million investment in Progressive Care Inc. (OTCQB: RXMD), a personalized health care services and technology company. In a news release announcing the investment, NextPlat CEO Charles M. Fernandez noted that the company is “committed to harnessing the power of digital technologies to capitalize on the ongoing digital transformation of Progressive Care and the entire health care industry.” NextPlat intends to accelerate Progressive Care’s digital health care transformation with the launch of a new e-commerce platform for health care products later this year.
  • NextPlat NFT Platform – Building on its existing e-commerce initiatives, NextPlat is working to bridge the gap between tangible and digital e-commerce marketplaces by incorporating burgeoning Web3 technologies. The company intends to launch a fully integrated NFT platform in the coming months that will enable brands to create, manage and authenticate digital assets while serving as a new source of revenue for NextPlat. Through this model, the company will receive a portion of the revenue generated from branded NFT drops, as well as subsequent secondary market transactions.
  • Global Telesat Communications and Orbital SatCom Corp. – Targeting both domestic and international markets, NextPlat’s subsidiaries leverage partnerships with major e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, Alibaba, eBay and Walmart to serve a growing base that includes more than 50,000 corporate, governmental and individual customers. In total, the brands market more than 10,000 individual products, with a focus on satellite-based connectivity solutions. In addition to exploring accretive M&A opportunities, NextPlat aims to diversify its range of products and broaden its geographic footprint moving forward in an effort to better capitalize on the tremendous growth potential in the United States, Europe and Asia.

“Our goal for 2023 and beyond is to leverage our improved operational capabilities and enhanced leadership team as we expand our offerings in communications and connectivity into the high-growth health care market where we intend to launch an array of innovative new offerings,” Fernandez said in a March 2023 news release detailing the company’s record top-line performance. “Although there remain supply chain headwinds and the challenge of global inflation, we are confident that we have the right combination of market-tested expertise, technology and partnerships that will enable us to bring the power of e-commerce to more customers, brands and industries in the United States and abroad.”

Market Opportunity

The rapid growth of e-commerce over the last decade is expected to continue for the foreseeable future. According to data published by Forbes, roughly 20.8% of all retail purchases are expected to take place online in 2023, accounting for total sales of $6.31 trillion worldwide. It total, e-commerce sales are expected to grow by 10.4% YoY in 2023, accounting for a whopping 24% of all retail purchases by 2026.

For NextPlat, existing partnerships in the industry could be key to capitalizing on this growth. The Forbes report indicates that Amazon accounts for roughly 38.7% of e-commerce sales, while sites like Walmart, eBay and Alibaba round out the list of most visited e-commerce websites. Alibaba is especially interesting due to NextPlat’s recent strategic merchant sourcing agreement with Tmall Global. The Chinese market is “mammoth,” as a recent Alizila report noted. The country’s annual online retail sales of physical goods have nearly doubled in the last five years, reaching approximately 13.8 trillion yuan in 2022, which is nearly $2 trillion USD.

The health care portion of the e-commerce market is generating particularly bullish forecasts, bolstered by the continued adoption of the 340B Drug Pricing Program in the U.S., which requires most drug manufacturers to provide outpatient drugs to covered entities at significantly reduced prices. Industry reports suggest that the global health care e-commerce market will expand at a compound annual growth rate of 16.8% from 2022 to 2030, climbing to a value of more than $1.37 trillion by the end of the forecast period.

Management Team

Charles M. Fernandez, CEO, Executive Chairman and Director of NextPlat, has over three decades of experience in identifying profitable start-up and dislocation opportunities, building significant value and executing exit strategies as an entrepreneur and global investor. Successful across multiple sectors, Fortune Magazine actually labeled Fernandez ‘a restructuring whiz’. As President of Fairholme Capital Management, which he joined in 2008, Mr. Fernandez co-managed all three Fairholme funds and brought in a $2 billion gain for shareholders. Throughout his impressive career, he has participated in more than 100 significant mergers, acquisitions and product development projects across multiple industries. Mr. Fernandez was the founder, Chairman and CEO of eApeiron Solutions LLC, a brand protection and e-commerce company in partnership with Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) and Eastman Kodak (NYSE: KODK), which was successfully sold to Smartrac, a unit of Avery Dennison Corp. (NYSE: AVY).

Rodney Barreto is Chairman and CEO of the Barreto Group and Director of Nextplat. Mr. Barreto’s business career spans over 35 years, including his role at the Barreto Group and, earlier, as the founding partner of Floridian Partners LLC, a corporate and public affairs consulting firm recognized by policy makers as one of the top in its industry in Florida. He chaired the Super Bowl Host Committee in 2007, 2010 and 2020, helping to raise more than $100 million for the success of Miami Super Bowls. As a philanthropist and conservationist, Mr. Barreto is also a three-time appointee to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, where he has served for over 10 years including holding the title of Chairman eight times. He has twice chaired the Annual U.S. Conference of Mayors, was Chairman of the 1999 Breeder’s Cup Championship held in South Florida and was the Chairman of the 1999 Sister Cities International Convention in Miami. Currently, Mr. Barreto is the Membership Chairman of the Florida Council of 100, and a member of the Boards of Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, the Baptist Health South Florida Giving Society, the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust, the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation, and a member of Miami Dade County Schools Superintendent Carvalho’s Business Advisory Council. Prior to his career in public affairs and real estate, Mr. Barreto was a City of Miami police officer and is a member of the Florida Highway Patrol Advisory Council.

NextPlat Corp. (NXPL), closed Wednesday's trading session at $1.73, off by 1.5759%, on 11,095 volume. The average volume for the last 3 months is and the stock's 52-week low/high is $1.2115/$4.26.

Recent News

Canada Nickel Company Inc. (TSX.V: CNC) (OTCQX: CNIKF)

The QualityStocks Daily Newsletter would like to spotlight Canada Nickel Company Inc. (TSX.V: CNC) (OTCQX: CNIKF).

Canada Nickel (TSX.V: CNC) (OTCQX: CNIKF), a company working to advance the next generation of high quality nickel sulphide projects to feed the high growth electric vehicle and stainless steel markets, was featured in the latest episode of the Bell2Bell Podcast, a part of IBN's sustained effort to provide specialized content distribution via widespread syndication channels. Mark Selby, CEO and director of Canada Nickel, joined the latest episode to discuss the company's projects, including its recent news announcing the positive bankable feasibility study for its Crawford Nickel Sulphide Project. "It's a major milestone for the company – $2.5 billion after-tax NPV, 17% IRR. When you include the additional carbon capture and storage tax credits that we think we'll be able to get, that nudges the IRR up to 18%. This is for a project that's going to be a 40-year mine life," Selby said. "We're the second-largest nickel reserve in the world, the second-largest nickel resource in the world and, if we were fully ramped-up today, we'd be the third-largest nickel-sulphide operation globally."

To view the full press release, visit https://ibn.fm/6xUyv

Canada Nickel Company Inc. (TSX.V: CNC) (OTCQX: CNIKF) is advancing the next generation of nickel-cobalt sulfide projects to deliver the metals needed to power the electric vehicle (EV) revolution and feed the high growth stainless steel market. The company is one of only a few new sources of potential supply outside Indonesia and China.

Canada Nickel possesses industry leading nickel expertise and is focused on low risk, well established mining jurisdictions. The company has launched wholly owned subsidiary NetZero Metals Inc. to develop zero-carbon production of nickel, cobalt and iron and has applied in multiple jurisdictions to trademark the terms NetZero Nickel, NetZero Cobalt and NetZero Iron. Canada Nickel is also pursuing development of processes to allow net zero carbon production of these elements.

Canada Nickel is currently anchored by its 100% owned flagship Crawford Nickel-Cobalt Sulfide Project with large-scale potential located in the heart of Ontario’s prolific Timmins-Cochrane mining camp, adjacent to major infrastructure.

The company believes the EV industry and many other consumer sectors have an urgent need for zero-carbon metal this decade, not in 20-25 years as contemplated by some resource companies. Canada Nickel also believes that nickel supplies from Indonesia and other Pacific island nations, typically controlled by Chinese-owned companies, are not the answer for batteries needed by GM, Ford and the European automakers working to develop and manufacture EV models.

The company is headquartered in Toronto.

Crawford Nickel-Cobalt Sulfide Project

The Crawford Nickel-Cobalt Sulfide Project is the largest sulfide discovery since the early 1970s and contains the fifth-largest nickel sulfide resource in the world, based on Measured & Indicated resources, according to the latest update. The Crawford project is expected to be one of the largest base metal mines in Canada based on results of a Preliminary Economic Assessment. Early projections by Canada Nickel estimate that the project has the potential to produce 50,000 tons of nickel per year. The company is now in the final stages of completing the project’s feasibility study.

The project is projected to produce 2.8 tons of CO2 per ton of nickel equivalent production, which is 89% lower than the industry average of 34 tons of CO2 per ton of nickel equivalent production.

The company is taking significant steps toward developing the Crawford project as a net zero carbon producer. In addition to harnessing the natural ability of the project’s geology to act as a carbon sink through spontaneous reaction of the host rock once exposed to atmospheric conditions called mineral carbonation, Canada Nickel has discovered a new way to enhance carbon capture, termed In Process Tailings (IPT) Carbonation. This act of conditioning the tailings with a concentrated stream of carbon dioxide before deposition has been demonstrated at lab scale to achieve carbon capture at a rate 8-12 times faster than naturally occurring sequestration, achieving more than 60% of the capture that had previously taken six days.

These latest results move the company further toward production of Net Zero Nickel™ and generation of 21 tonnes of CO2 credits per tonne of nickel, which would produce an estimated average of 710,000 tonnes of CO2 credits annually and 18 million total tonnes of CO2 credits over the expected life of mine. IPT Carbonation does not require complex new technologies and major process modifications and could encourage the development of a net zero carbon industrial cluster centered around the Crawford project.

Canada Nickel in January 2023 announced that its latest test work results support the incorporation of carbon capture and storage into the Crawford project. The company believes that utilization of existing process streams should allow IPT to be efficiently engineered and incorporated into the project’s flowsheet, with an integrated feasibility study for the project expected in the second quarter of 2023.

In December 2022, Canada Nickel announced its engagement on Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. (“Deutsche Bank”) and Scotiabank – two of the world’s leading investment banks with a broad base of mining and industrial expertise – as financial advisors for the equity component of the project financing for the Crawford project. In the same release, the company announced the completion of another significant permitting milestone by filing the detailed project description with the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada. Canada Nickel targets receipt of permits by mid-2025, with construction to immediately follow.

Additional Projects

The Reid Nickel Property is located just 16 kilometers southwest of Crawford, or 37 kilometers northwest of Timmins, and contains an ultramafic body with a target geophysical footprint of 3.9 square kilometers. Preliminary assay results from Canada Nickel’s summer/fall drilling program confirm the presence of mineralized dunite, as well as currently undefined higher-grade sections. Partial assay results confirm expected nickel grades. Nickel mineralization in serpentinized dunite was found in all 16 holes drilled to date.

The Sothman Nickel Property is located 70 kilometers south of Timmins. Five drill holes on the eastern half of the target anomaly confirmed the continuation of ultramafic lithologies, primarily peridotite, with moderate to strong serpentinization and variable amounts of mineralization throughout.

The company in December 2022 announced positive drilling results from its ongoing regional exploration campaign at its Reid and Sothman properties. These latest results continue to reinforce the success of Canada Nickel’s geophysical targeting approach and increase the probability of success at the company’s other 20-plus properties within its 42 square kilometers of geophysical targets.

Building on this momentum, Canada Nickel in December 2022 announced its entry into a deal to acquire a 100% interest in the past producing Texmont property situated between the company’s properties south of Timmins. As noted in the news release, the acquisition of the Texmont property provides near-term smaller scale production potential and is highly complementary to the company’s large-scale Crawford and regional nickel sulphide projects.

Market Opportunity

Global demand leaves the market fundamentally short of nickel in the medium- and long-term. Global primary nickel demand will likely reach 3 million tons in 2022, up from 2.4 million tons in 2020, according to the International Nickel Study Group (INSG).

The INSG says primary nickel production is forecast to hit 3.1 million tons in 2022. Indonesia, the world’s largest nickel miner, halted exports of unprocessed nickel ore in January 2020, due to a government-imposed ban. Indonesia has floated the concept of a nickel cartel whose member nations would exert influence over world nickel supply and prices, similar to OPEC’s pricing power over oil.

Benchmark Minerals, a leading EV supply chain research firm, projects that, by 2035, world demand for nickel will double from current levels to 6 million tons annually. That growing demand represents a need for new nickel production equivalent to 70 mines the size of Canada Nickel’s Crawford Project.

Management Team

Mark Selby is CEO and Director of Canada Nickel. He was formerly President and CEO of RNC Minerals, where he led a team that successfully raised over $100 million and advanced the Dumont nickel-cobalt project from initial resource to a fully permitted, construction-ready project. He has held senior management roles with Quadra Mining, Inco and Purolator Courier, and was a partner at Mercer Management Consulting. Since 2001, he has been recognized as one of the leading authorities on the nickel market. He graduated from Queen’s University with a Bachelor of Commerce.

Wendy Kaufman is CFO of Canada Nickel. She has 25 years of experience leading publicly listed mining companies in project financing, capital structuring, capital markets, accounting and internal controls, tax, and financial reporting and public disclosure. She was also previously CFO at Khiron Life Sciences Corp. and held CFO and senior finance positions at Pasinex Resources Limited, Primero Mining Corporation and Inmet Mining Corporation. She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Wilfrid Laurier University and is a Chartered Professional Accountant.

Steve Balch is VP Exploration at Canada Nickel. He is an Ontario registered geoscientist with 32 years of experience in geophysics, specializing in magnetic and electromagnetic methods. He founded Triumph Instruments and developed the AirTEM system, a multi-coil helicopter-borne EM system that is in use worldwide. He has also been active in borehole geophysics and helped develop new technologies including north-seeking gyros, temperature compensated induction conductivity probes, UAV-based magnetometers and high sensitivity magnetic gradiometers.

Christian Brousseau is VP Capital Projects at Canada Nickel. He is a professional engineer (P.Eng) with over 30 years of experience in engineering, design and construction in the Canadian mining industry, including six years as Project Director for the Dumont Project and three years as the Engineering and Construction Manager for Detour Gold. Prior to Detour, he held various construction management positions at Osisko’s Malartic Project and at Goldcorp’s Éléonore Project. He also spent eight years at Falconbridge supervising and managing various capital projects.

Canada Nickel Company Inc. (OTCQX: CNIKF), closed Monday's trading session at $2.05, up 3.0151%, on 73,251 volume with 375 trades. The average volume for the last 3 months is 57,207 and the stock's 52-week low/high is $1.04999995/$5.63000011.

Recent News

InMed Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: INM)

The QualityStocks Daily Newsletter would like to spotlight InMed Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: INM).

InMed Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: INM), a leader in the pharmaceutical research, development, manufacturing and commercialization of rare cannabinoids and cannabinoid analogs, has entered into a definitive agreement for the issue and sale of more than 3 million common shares, or prefunded warrants in lieu thereof. Specifically, the company agreed to a private placement of 3,012,049 common shares priced at $0.83 per share. In addition, the company entered an agreement for an associated preferred investment option as well as a definitive agreement regarding specific outstanding preferred investment options issued in November 2022. The announcement outlines specifics of the agreement. The company also stated that the preferred investment option to be issued will be exercisable immediately upon issuance; exercise price for the offerings will be $0.83 per share, with an expiration date five and one-half years from the date of issuance. InMed Pharmaceuticals is projected to receive approximately $5.2 million in net proceeds from the offerings, before standard deductions and expenses; the offerings should close on or about Oct. 26, 2023, subject to customary closing conditions being met. InMed Pharmaceuticals anticipates using the net proceeds to continue pipeline development of its pharmaceutical drug candidates and to fund commercial sales of rare cannabinoids. H.C. Wainwright & Co. is acting as the exclusive placement agent for the offerings.

To view the full press release, visit https://ibn.fm/7EoFG

InMed Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: INM) is a global leader in the manufacturing and clinical development of rare cannabinoids. InMed is a clinical stage company developing cannabinoid-based pharmaceutical drug candidates, as well as manufacturing technologies for pharmaceutical-grade rare cannabinoids.

The company is dedicated to delivering new therapeutic alternatives to treat conditions with high unmet medical needs. The company is also developing a proprietary manufacturing technology to produce pharmaceutical-grade rare cannabinoids in the lab and has recently announced an LOI to acquire a leading rare cannabinoid manufacturer.

Research and Technology

There are more than 100 rare cannabinoids found in only trace amounts in the cannabis plant, together making up less than 1% of the plant’s biomass. InMed is initially focused on the therapeutic benefits of cannabinol (CBN) in diseases with high unmet medical need. Preclinical studies of CBN demonstrated an excellent safety profile and showed CBN has potential for therapeutic benefit over other cannabinoids such as tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD).

Evidence suggests there may be great therapeutic potential in rare cannabinoids. Each has a specific chemical structure, and different cannabinoids have been observed to have distinct physiological properties in humans, including therapeutic potential for specific diseases as well as unique safety profiles. CBN is the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) in InMed’s two lead programs for dermatological and ocular diseases.

InMed’s most advanced compound, INM-755, is a CBN topical cream under clinical development for the treatment of epidermolysis bullosa, a severe genetic skin disorder. To date, INM-755 has been evaluated in two Phase 1 clinical trials in healthy volunteers. InMed has filed Clinical Trial Applications in several countries as part of a global Phase 2 clinical trial of INM-755 (cannabinol) cream in epidermolysis bullosa. Responses from the National Competent Authorities and Ethics Committees are expected throughout the summer of 2021.

InMed is also involved in developing INM-088, an ocular CBN formulation being researched for the treatment of glaucoma, the second leading cause of blindness in the developed world. InMed is currently evaluating several formulations to deliver CBN into the eye to address issues of dosing frequency, side effects and treatment penetration. INM-088 is being designed for topical delivery to the eye. This localized delivery results in very little drug being absorbed or migrating into the bloodstream, thus minimizing potential adverse side effects. INM-088 shows promise to reduce intraocular pressure and provide neuroprotection of the eye.

Manufacturing

The limited availability of rare cannabinoids like CBN makes them economically impractical to extract directly from the plant for pharmaceutical use. InMed is developing IntegraSyn, a cannabinoid synthesis manufacturing system to create rare cannabinoids in the lab that are bioidentical to the compounds derived from the cannabis plant. IntegraSyn uses multiple standard pharmaceutical processes and has achieved a cannabinoid yield of 5 grams per liter, surpassing commercial viability and significantly exceeding currently reported industry yields. InMed is now focusing on manufacturing scale-up to larger batch sizes while continuing process optimization, targeting increased cannabinoid yield and further reducing overall cost of goods.

BayMedica Inc. Acquisition

On June 29, 2021, InMed announced it had entered into a non-binding letter of intent to acquire BayMedica Inc., a private company based in Nevada and California that specializes in the manufacture and commercialization of rare cannabinoids.

As noted in the news release, BayMedica is a revenue-stage biotechnology company leveraging its significant expertise in synthetic biology and pharmaceutical chemistry to develop efficient, scalable and proprietary manufacturing approaches to produce high quality, regulatory-compliant rare cannabinoids for consumer applications. BayMedica is currently commercializing the rare cannabinoid CBC (cannabichromene) as a B2B supplier to distributors and manufacturers marketing products in the health and wellness sector. BayMedica is planning additional rare cannabinoid launches for the coming year.

Pursuant to the indicative terms of the LOI, InMed and BayMedica intend to negotiate and enter into a definitive agreement under which InMed would acquire 100% of BayMedica in exchange for 1.6 million InMed common shares to be issued to BayMedica’s equity and convertible debt holders, with any such issued InMed common shares being subject to a six-month contractual hold period.

Market Outlook

There is a rapidly growing demand for rare cannabinoids. However, their low natural concentration makes traditional harvesting of these compounds cost prohibitive. Biosynthesis allows production of rare cannabinoids in the lab that are bioidentical to compounds found in nature, with significantly higher yields which reduce costs. Biosynthesis can produce pharmaceutical-grade, bioidentical, THC-free compounds at a cost that’s 70 to 90 percent less than wholesale prices of naturally harvested rare cannabinoids.

Cannabinoid-based pharmaceuticals are expected to overtake the market as rare cannabinoids become less expensive and more available. According to Statista, the value of the consumer market for cannabinoid-based pharmaceuticals in the United States is forecast to grow to $25 billion by 2025 and to $50 billion by 2029, with cannabinoid-based pharmaceuticals used to treat health conditions including pain, respiratory conditions, autoimmune conditions and more.

Management Team

Eric A. Adams has been CEO and president of InMed since June 2016. He has more than 25 years of experience in establishing corporate entities, capital formation, global market development, mergers and acquisitions, licensing and corporate governance. He previously served as CEO at enGene Inc. Prior to enGene, he held senior positions in global market development with QLT Inc. (Vancouver), Advanced Tissue Sciences Inc. (La Jolla, CA), Abbott Laboratories (Chicago, IL) and Fresenius AG (Germany).

Bruce S. Colwill is InMed’s CFO. He has more than 25 years of financial leadership experience in public and private companies. Prior to InMed, he served as CFO of General Fusion Inc., a private clean energy company. He was also CFO at Entrée Resources Inc., a mineral exploration company, from 2011 to 2016. He has held CFO roles at Neuromed Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Response Biomedical Corp, Forbes Medi-Tech Inc. and Euronet Worldwide Inc.

Alexandra D.J. Mancini is Senior Vice President, Clinical and Regulatory Affairs at InMed. She has more than 30 years of global biopharmaceutical research and development experience. She has been an executive with numerous biotech companies, including senior vice president of Clinical and Regulatory Affairs at Sirius Genomics; senior vice president of Clinical and Regulatory Affairs at INEX Pharmaceuticals; and vice president of Regulatory Affairs at QLT Inc.

Eric C. Hsu is Senior Vice President, Pre-Clinical Research and Development at InMed. He joined InMed with more than 18 years of scientific leadership experience in the field of gene therapy. He has held various positions within enGene Inc., including vice president of Research and vice president of Scientific Affairs and Operations. He received his Doctorate from the Department of Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto.

Michael Woudenberg is Vice President, Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls at InMed. He has more than 20 years of successful drug development, process engineering, GMP manufacturing and leadership experience. He has held positions with 3M, Cardiome Pharma, Arbutus Biopharma and, most recently, was Managing Director of Phyton Biotech LLC.

InMed Pharmaceuticals Inc. (INM), closed Wednesday's trading session at $0.7499, off by 24.1836%, on 2,661,044 volume. The average volume for the last 3 months is and the stock's 52-week low/high is $0.4502/$4.75.

Recent News

D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE: QBTS)

The QualityStocks Daily Newsletter would like to spotlight D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE: QBTS).

D-Wave Quantum (NYSE: QBTS), a leader in quantum computing systems, software and services, has announced plans to report on its third-quarter financial results for the period ended Sept. 30, 2023. The company will issue its third quarter earnings press release before market opens on Nov. 9, 2023. In addition, D-Wave Quantum CEO Alan Baratz and CFO John Markovich will host a conference call on the same day; the call will begin at 8 a.m. ET. During the call, company officials will discuss D-Wave Quantum financial results as well as its business outlook. Those interested can access by call by dialing 1-800-908-9179 (domestic) or 1-312-281-1211 (international).

To view the full press release, visit https://ibn.fm/6OlO1

D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE: QBTS) is a leader in quantum computing systems, software and services focused on delivering customer value via practical quantum applications for problems such as logistics, artificial intelligence, materials sciences, drug discovery, scheduling, fault detection and financial modeling. As the only provider building both annealing and gate-model quantum computers, the company is unlocking commercial use cases in optimization today, while building the technologies that will enable new solutions tomorrow.

D-Wave is a pioneer in quantum computing, with a history of delivering the world’s first commercial quantum computer; the first real-time quantum cloud service; countless hardware and software product and research milestones; and the planned first cross-platform quantum solution which will deliver both annealing and gate-model quantum computers to customers via an integrated platform. Its current commercial product offerings include: Advantage™ (fifth generation quantum computer), Leap™ (quantum cloud service), Launch™ (quantum computing onboarding service) and Ocean™ (full suite of open-source programming tools).

D-Wave’s relentless pursuit of practical quantum computing has resulted in the technology being used today by some of the world’s most advanced enterprises – more than 25 of the Forbes Global 2000 use D-Wave.

D-Wave’s commercial customers include blue-chip industry leaders like Volkswagen, Accenture, BBVA, NEC Corporation, Save-On-Foods, DENSO and Lockheed Martin. The company boasts an extensive IP portfolio featuring more than 200 issued U.S. patents and over 100 peer-reviewed papers published in leading scientific journals.

Founded in 1999, D-Wave is the world’s first commercial supplier of quantum computers. With headquarters and the Quantum Engineering Center of Excellence based near Vancouver, Canada, D-Wave’s U.S. operations are based in Palo Alto, California.

Advantage™ Quantum Computer

 

With the Advantage™ Quantum Computer, D-Wave has incorporated two decades of experience and over 10 years of customer feedback to create the first and only quantum computer designed for business. The platform features a new processor architecture with over 5,000 qubits and 15-way qubit connectivity. This is 2.5x more connections and more than double the number of qubits than the company’s previous generation quantum computer.

D-Wave’s quantum computers, first located in its facilities in British Columbia, have been available to North American users through its Leap™ quantum cloud service since 2018. It has since introduced new Advantage systems in Julich, Germany, and most recently, Marina Del Rey, California, which marked the availability of the first Advantage quantum computer physically located in the United States.

That new deployment is part of the USC-Lockheed Martin Quantum Computing Center (QCC) hosted at USC’s Information Sciences Institute (ISI), a unit of the University of Southern California’s prestigious Viterbi School of Engineering. Additionally, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and D-Wave announced that the U.S.-based system is available for use in Amazon 2racket, expanding the number to three different D-Wave quantum systems available to AWS users.

Leap Quantum Cloud Service

 

D-Wave’s customers interface with its systems through the Leap™ quantum cloud service. Leap delivers immediate, real-time access to the company’s Advantage quantum computer and quantum hybrid solver service, all with enterprise-class performance and scalability.

Leap allows developers proficient in Python to get started building and running quantum applications. Through a seamless and secure cloud-based connection, users can easily start solving complex problems of up to 1 million variables and 100,000 constraints.

Using Leap, D-Wave customers have developed quantum hybrid applications for use cases in manufacturing, logistics, financial services, life sciences, materials science, retail and transportation. By eliminating the need to wait hours, days or weeks to get good answers to a broad array of problems, D-Wave is helping businesses move forward.

D-Wave Launch

D-Wave Launch™ is the company’s onboarding platform aimed at helping businesses easily start their quantum journey. Through this program, D-Wave’s team of experts and partners aid enterprises in identifying best use cases for quantum and work with them to develop a proof of concept and production pilot.

From there, the team coordinates with customers to get their hybrid quantum applications up and running, providing ongoing Leap quantum cloud access to ensure the application is operating smoothly and delivering real business value.

Target Verticals

While the potential applications for quantum computing are effectively limitless, D-Wave has identified a number of industry verticals as key areas of focus for its quantum architecture, providing case studies for each. These include:

  • Manufacturing – D-Wave worked with Volkswagen to identify a commercial optimization application, the binary paint shop problem, which was run on D-Wave’s hybrid solver service. The solver outperformed four purely classical methods on problem sizes at commercial scale (N=3,000). In a separate project, similar inputs were tested using a leading ion trap system, which failed to find any commercial solution.
  • Life Sciences – Menten AI makes use of D-Wave quantum computing to assist in the design of novel therapeutic peptides—short strings of amino acids that can act as potent drugs. With the rise of COVID-19, D-Wave’s Advantage system made it possible to identify molecules that might be especially well-suited for binding and inhibiting the related spike protein, producing several promising peptide designs.
  • Finance – Multiverse Computing, a leader in developing quantum solutions for the financial sector, leveraged D-Wave’s hybrid solver service in a collaboration with BBVA, one of the world’s largest financial institutions. Multiverse demonstrated management strategies that far exceeded the granularity of traditional returns in a fraction of the time, helping BBVA identify a low-risk portfolio for investment.

Market Opportunity

The quantum computing total addressable market is projected to grow between $450 billion and $850 billion over the next 15 to 30 years, with between $5 billion and $10 billion of anticipated TAM growth coming in the next three to five years, according to Boston Consulting Group. Driving factors behind this growth include rising investments in quantum computing tech by governments and an increasing number of commercial use-cases.

Forward-thinking organizations see quantum as an opportunity to move ahead of the competition. From finding efficiencies and reducing waste to decreasing time to solution and solving problems abandoned due to complexity, the business value is real. According to data from 451 Research, 40% of large enterprises are already experimenting with quantum computing.

D-Wave is strategically positioned – in an industry with significant barriers to entry – as evident by a decades-long track record serving a roster of blue-chip customers. The company is singularly focused on helping its customers achieve clear value by leveraging quantum computing in practical business applications. With a full stack of systems, software, developer tools and services, D-Wave is working to enable enterprises, governments, developers and researchers to access the power of quantum computing, thereby providing an intriguing opportunity for prospective investors.

D-Wave’s current investor base includes PSP Investments, Goldman Sachs, BDC Capital, NEC Corporation, Aegis Group Partners and In-Q-Tel.

Leadership Team

Dr. Alan Baratz has served as the CEO of D-Wave since 2020. Previously, as Executive Vice President of R&D and Chief Product Officer, he drove the development, delivery, and support of all of D-Wave’s products, technologies, and applications. Dr. Baratz has over 25 years of experience in product development and bringing new products to market at leading technology companies and software startups. As the first president of JavaSoft at Sun Microsystems, he oversaw the growth and adoption of the Java platform from its infancy to a robust platform supporting mission-critical applications in nearly 80 percent of Fortune 1000 companies. He has also held executive positions at Symphony, Avaya, Cisco, and IBM. Dr. Baratz holds a doctorate in computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

John Markovich is the company’s CFO. He brings to D-Wave over three decades of experience working with rapidly growing private and public technology companies across all stages of development. Mr. Markovich has directed the finance, accounting, tax, treasury, M&A, legal, operations, customer service, IR, HR, and IT functions for companies ranging from privately held pre-revenue startups to an NYSE-listed Fortune 500 multi-national company with over $1.2 billion in annual revenue. During his career, he has negotiated and closed over 150 debt, equity, M&A, and joint venture transactions exceeding $2.5 billion in value; over a dozen private placements; nearly a dozen M&A transactions; and several international joint ventures. Mr. Markovich holds a BS in Business from Miami University and an MBA from the Michigan State Graduate School of Business.

D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE: QBTS), closed Wednesday's trading session at $0.6801, off by 13.5283%, on 1,702,258 volume. The average volume for the last 3 months is and the stock's 52-week low/high is $0.3962/$4.9573.

Recent News

Clene Inc. (NASDAQ: CLNN)

The QualityStocks Daily Newsletter would like to spotlight Clene Inc. (NASDAQ: CLNN).

Clene's wholly-owned subsidiary, Clene Nanomedicine Inc., in collaboration with Columbia University and Synapticure, has been awarded a four-year grant totaling $45.1 million from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke ("NINDS")

The study will monitor safety, survival, clinical worsening, and key disease progression-related biomarkers while using CNM-Au8

Research conducted by Clene estimates that ALS is the most prevalent adult-onset progressive motor neuron disease, affecting approximately 30,000 people in the US and an estimated 500,000 people worldwide, with a life expectancy of diagnosed patients typically ranging from three to five years

Clene (NASDAQ: CLNN), a late clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company on a mission to transform the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, recently announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary Clene Nanomedicine Inc., in collaboration with Columbia University and Synapticure, has been awarded a four-year grant totaling $45.1 million from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke ("NINDS"). The grant will support an Expanded Access Protocol ("EAP") for Clene's investigational drug, CNM-Au8(R), for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ("ALS"). The grant is supported by the National Institute of Health ("NIH") grant U01NS136023 (https://ibn.fm/03fnZ).

Clene Inc. (NASDAQ: CLNN) is a late clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on improving mitochondrial health and protecting neuronal function to treat neurodegenerative diseases, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson’s disease, and multiple sclerosis (MS).

Its lead drug candidate is CNM-Au8®, an oral suspension developed to restore neuronal health and function by increasing energy production and utilization by driving critical cellular energy producing reactions that enable neuroprotection and remyelination to increase neuronal and glial resilience to disease-relevant stressors. CNM-Au8 is being studied in various clinical trials, including the Harvard/MGH Healey ALS Platform clinical trial for patients with ALS; RESCUE-ALS, a completed proof-of-concept clinical trial in patients with early symptomatic ALS; the REPAIR trials, completed target engagement clinical trials showing brain energy metabolite change with CNM-Au8; and a completed MS clinical trial for the treatment of visual pathway deficits in chronic optic neuropathy for remyelination in stable relapsing MS. The company also has a nanotherapeutic platform of drug discovery.

CNM-Au8

CNM-Au8, Clene’s lead asset, is a highly concentrated aqueous suspension of catalytically active, clean-surfaced, faceted gold nanocrystals. Multiple pathogenic insults contribute to neuronal death. Mitochondrial dysfunction and NAD+ decline is a common final pathway in neurodegeneration, with NAD+ as a critical determinant of cell survival and function. CNM-Au8’s catalytic mechanisms target the energetic deficits, oxidative stress and accumulation of misfolded proteins that are common to many neurodegenerative diseases.

The unique catalytic mechanism of action of CNM-Au8 is hypothesized to act as a neuroprotective and remyelinating therapy in neurodegenerative disease states in order to: (1) drive, support and maintain beneficial metabolic and energetic cellular reactions within diseased, stressed and/or damaged cells, (2) directly catalyze the reduction of harmful, reactive oxygen species (“ROS”) and (3) promote protein homeostasis via activation of the heat shock factor-1 pathway, recognized to dampen the cytotoxicity caused by misfolded and denatured proteins, which are known to occur ubiquitously in neurodegenerative diseases.

CNM-Au8 is used in combination with other agents, has no known drug-drug interactions, and is designed to improve function and survival. The clinical effects of both function and survival were seen in its clinical ALS trials, as earlier announced.

More than 500 estimated years of collective exposure across ALS, MS, and Parkinson’s disease participants in CNM-Au8 clinical trials and Expanded Access Protocol (compassionate use) programs have been recorded without any observed safety signals.

CNM-Au8 is a federally registered trademark of Clene Inc. Clene, based in Salt Lake City, Utah, with R&D and manufacturing operations in Maryland, began in 2013.

Market Opportunity

ALS is the most prevalent adult-onset progressive motor neuron disease, affecting approximately 30,000 people in the U.S. and an estimated 500,000 people worldwide, with a life expectancy of typically three to five years. Clene estimates that global ALS treatment sales will be greater than $1 billion annually within the coming few years. Additional treatments affecting daily function and survival remain the market need.

Additionally, there are more than 2 million MS patients globally, and Clene estimates the market size to be worth more than $23 billion annually. While the MS community has been successful at limiting relapses, non-relapsing MS patients continue to clinically deteriorate even while receiving effective immunomodulatory disease-modifying therapies (“DMTs”). A critical unmet medical need remains for therapeutic interventions that protect neuronal function and myelin health independent of immunomodulation to address progression independent of relapse activity.

Management Team

Robert Etherington is President, Director and CEO of Clene. He has more than 30 years of sales, marketing and leadership experience in the pharmaceutical industry. Prior to joining Clene, he worked at Actelion Pharmaceuticals, the largest biopharma company in the European Union prior to its acquisition by Johnson & Johnson in 2017, where he led that company’s U.S. commercial operations. He began his pharmaceutical sales and marketing career at Parke-Davis, a division of Pfizer, where he rose to the position of Team Leader overseeing the drug Lipitor.

Mark Mortenson is Chief Science Officer at Clene. He is co-inventor of the technology platform developed to produce the company’s therapeutics. He is the inventor or co-inventor on 32 other U.S. patents and hundreds of corresponding international patents. He is a former chief patent counsel responsible for 5,500 U.S. and international patents and patent applications. He holds bachelor’s degrees in physics and ceramic engineering from Alfred University, a master’s degree in materials science from Penn State University and a J.D. from George Washington University.

Benjamin Greenberg, M.D., MHS, FAAN, is Head of Medical at Clene. He is an internationally recognized expert in disorders of the central nervous system. He is currently professor of neurology and Vice Chair of Clinical and Translational Research in the department of Neurology at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Johns Hopkins, a master’s degree in molecular microbiology and immunology from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and graduated from Baylor College of Medicine. He served residency in neurology at The Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Morgan R. Brown is CFO at Clene. He has more than 30 years of finance and accounting experience, with 23 years at biotech, pharmaceutical and medical device companies. He has served in similar roles at Lipocine Inc., Innovus Pharmaceuticals, World Heart Corp., Lifetree Clinical Research and NPS Pharmaceuticals Inc. He previously worked at accounting firm KPMG. He is a CPA with a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Utah State University and an M.S. in business administration from the University of Utah.

Clene Inc. (NASDAQ: CLNN), closed Wednesday's trading session at $0.4325, off by 0.368579%, on 282,227 volume. The average volume for the last 3 months is and the stock's 52-week low/high is $0.414/$1.99.

Recent News

Freight Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: FRGT)

The QualityStocks Daily Newsletter would like to spotlight Freight Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: FRGT).

Freight Technologies, Inc . (Nasdaq: FRGT) ("Fr8Tech"), a technology company whose custom-developed Fr8App, an industry-leading freight-matching platform powered by AI and machine-learning and offers a real-time portal for B2B cross-border shipping and domestic shipping within the USMCA region, proudly announces a significant achievement with the recent success of securing an RFQ (Request for Quotation) from a leading global pharmaceutical giant.

The prestigious pharmaceutical conglomerate, renowned for its unwavering commitment to global health and life-changing innovations, has chosen Fr8App as its trusted partner for a crucial logistics operation. This RFQ win marks a monumental milestone for the organization and underscores its continued dedication to excellence and industry-leading logistics solutions.

Freight Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: FRGT) (“Fr8Tech”) is a technology company developing solutions to optimize and automate the supply chain process, providing a platform for B2B cross-border shipping in the NAFTA region. The company’s mission is to revolutionize cross-border shipping by providing carriers with increased growth opportunities and shippers with flexibility, visibility and simplicity for the once-complex process of international over-the-road shipping.

Freight Technologies, formerly known as Hudson Capital Inc., assumed its current name and ticker symbol on May 27, 2022. Its primary operating subsidiary and its marketplace are known as Fr8App, and it conducts operations throughout North America under the names of Fr8App and/or Freight App. The company is headquartered in Houston, Texas, with multiple locations across the U.S. and Mexico.

The Fr8Tech Solutions Suite

Fr8Tech leverages artificial intelligence to provide cloud-based platforms aimed at automating the over-the-road transportation process, effectively reducing human touch points and expediting load booking times. The company’s suite of solutions includes:

  • Fr8app – A B2B marketplace powered by AI and Machine Learning offering a real-time broker portal to connect shippers with qualified carriers
  • Fr8Radar – A tracking solution providing shippers and carriers real-time locational data via Fr8app’s mobile solution or through integration with third-party GPS alternatives
  • Fr8TMS – A transportation management system designed to help shippers manage their freight and all of the documents involved in shipping transactions, including invoices, customs documents, confirmation rates and proof of deliveries
  • Fr8FMS – A fleet management system allowing transportation companies to better manage their fleets, reduce operational costs and provide better service to their customers
  • Fr8Data – A data solution offering real-time dashboards and reports to shippers and carriers in an effort to increase visibility and control while supporting better business decisions
  • Fr8Fleet – A platform that provides private fleet management, enabling large corporate shippers to purchase dedicated capacity secured by Fr8app in exchange for a fixed fee

Commitment to the Environment

Through its core focus on technology, Fr8Tech seeks to reduce the carbon footprint of the logistics industry. Its solutions aim to minimize empty miles for transportation firms and reduce overall paper consumption.

Fr8University

Fr8University is an educational program offering classroom and on-the-job training for Fr8Tech team members. Through the program, employees learn in-depth business fundamentals and applications along the truckload freight industry value chain.

Led by corporate educator Mario Mena, Fr8University is designed as an investment in the company’s human capital, providing an opportunity to communicate Fr8Tech’s corporate culture while accelerating operational growth.

Market Outlook

Fr8Tech’s established foothold in Mexico is key to its current efforts to promote sustainable growth in the cross-border shipping industry. Ongoing disruption in U.S.-Chinese trade relations have strengthened Mexico’s status as the largest trading partner of the U.S., with cross-border annual freight spending estimated at $385 billion according to data from the U.S. Department of Transportation. Annual domestic shipping in Mexico is estimated at $34 billion, while annual domestic shipping in the U.S. is estimated to total $732 billion.

Despite the size of this industry, fragmentation and inefficiencies prevail in the space. Thousands of legacy brokers, tens of thousands of shippers and hundreds of thousands of carriers still rely on outdated systems to arrange transport, spending hours on the phone negotiating pricing, waiting days to find trucks and drivers, preparing and printing forms, and operating without tracking or visibility. Add in cross-border complexity relating to customs and additional paperwork, and you have an industry ripe for technological disruption.

Fr8Tech’s recent revenue growth trends have highlighted the company’s efforts to capitalize on this opportunity. In 2021, Fr8Tech achieved revenues of $21.5 million, marking a year-over-year increase of 134%. The company issued revenue guidance for fiscal 2022 of $40 million in a February 9, 2022, press release, which would account for a further 86% year-over-year increase.

Management Team

Javier Selgas is CEO and a Director of Freight Technologies Inc. and Freight App Inc. He brings to the company over 15 years of experience developing technology and digital marketing strategies, including serving as Country Manager for Osigu, Spain, and as head of AJEgroup’s IT division for the Asia-Pacific region. Prior to joining Fr8Tech, Mr. Selgas founded digital marketing agency Lanzadera Online. He has also served as an IT consultant to major corporations, including Endesa and Ibermatica.

Mike Flinker is President of Fr8Tech. He has over four decades of experience in the transportation industry, with 30+ years focused on cross-border logistics. Prior to joining Fr8Tech, Mr. Flinker founded FLS Transportation, the largest cross-border logistics company in Canada. He also previously held positions with Clarke Transport Inc., Canadian Pacific and Reimer Express Inc. (a division of Roadway Express).

Paul Freudenthaler is the company’s CFO and Secretary to the company Board. He has over 30 years of financial expertise, having previously served as CFO for several leading companies across multiple countries, including Macquarie in Mexico, Old Mutual in Latin America and Ascentium Capital in the U.S. Mr. Freudenthaler’s experience include leadership roles from which he guided IPOs and M&A transactions.

Luisa Lopez is COO of Fr8Tech. She brings to the company 25+ years of management experience in logistics, supply chain, operations and customer service. Ms. Lopez previously served as a Director of Landstar, where she was responsible for commercial and client development strategies in the Mexican market. Additionally, she managed more than 2,000 transport units specialized in staff and school mobility while with Traxion in Mexico.

Freight Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: FRGT), closed Wednesday's trading session at $0.3098, off by 3.8781%, on 3,036,188 volume. The average volume for the last 3 months is and the stock's 52-week low/high is $0.2806/$8.60.

Recent News

Reflex Advanced Materials Corp. (CSE: RFLX) (OTCQB: RFLXF)

The QualityStocks Daily Newsletter would like to spotlight Reflex Advanced Materials Corp. (CSE: RFLX) (OTCQB: RFLXF).

Reflex Advanced Materials (CSE: RFLX) (OTCQB: RFLXF) (FSE: HF2), a mineral exploration company, has upsized its nonbrokered private placement financing, which had been announced initially in August. The first two tranches of the offering closed earlier this month, and the offering now consists of up to 7,500,000 units of the company offered at $0.20 per unit, resulting in an anticipated $1.5 million gross proceeds; the original projection was for $1 million. According to the announcement, each unit of the offering includes one common share in the capital of the company and one-half of one share purchase warrant, with each whole warrant entitling the holder to purchase an additional share at an exercise price of $0.35 for a period of 24 months from the date of issuance. The announcement noted that closing of the offering is anticipated prior to Nov. 6, 2023, and is dependent on certain conditions and approvals. Reflex Advanced Materials anticipates using the gross proceeds from the offering to advance its Ruby Graphite Project along with other general corporate purposes.

To view the full press release, visit https://ibn.fm/TuF4S

Reflex Advanced Materials Corp. (CSE: RFLX) (OTCQB: RFLXF) is a strategic minerals company focused on locating and developing economic properties in the strategic metals and advanced materials space. The company aims to improve domestic specialty mineral infrastructure efficiencies to meet surging national demand from North American manufacturers, effectively positioning itself as one of the only North American suppliers of high purity natural graphite for hi-tech applications.

Reflex Advanced Materials is based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Its project portfolio includes the Ruby Graphite Deposit in Montana and the ZigZag Lithium Property in Ontario.

Projects

Ruby Graphite Project

Located in a mining-friendly jurisdiction in southwest Montana, the Ruby Graphite Deposit is a low cost, rapid re-entry opportunity that produced roughly 2,400 tons of graphite from 1902 to 1948. Reflex Advanced Materials holds mining rights for 755 hectares at the Ruby Graphite Project, with 96 federal lode mining claims. Recent samples assay at 95.8% to 98.4% total carbon.

The site is notable as the only combined U.S. graphite flake and vein graphite source. Vein graphite is ideal for energy storage applications, because it requires fewer steps to achieve purity than synthetic alternatives and is therefore far less environmentally damaging. This is expected to play a key role in the project’s development as demand for electric vehicles continues to surge.

In March 2023, the company announced its submittal of permit applications to the Bureau of Land Management in respect of its exploration of the Ruby Graphite Project. Its initial drill program, expected to take place in the summer of 2023, includes plans for 3,500 total meters of drilling, cored to an average depth of 130 meters. The targets for this drill program have been identified using historical data from original mine operations and data gathered for the initial 43-101 technical report on the project, dated January 31, 2023.

ZigZag Lithium Property

Located in the Thunder Bay Mining Division of Ontario, the ZigZag Lithium Property consists of eight mining claims spanning roughly 2,710 hectares. Mineralization at the property, most notably lithium, is based in pegmatite dikes and concentrated in spodumene crystals, which are consistent throughout the entire unit.

Spodumene is readily observable in outcrops and in drill cores, with crystal sizes ranging from 3-15cm, on average.

Reflex Advanced Materials and American Energy Technologies Company Metallurgical Partnership

Reflex Advanced Materials has entered into a material processing agreement with American Energy Technologies Co., which is based in Arlington Heights, Illinois, to conduct metallurgical testwork with the goal of creating a technical support data package for Reflex’s target customer base, U.S. Federal agencies and qualification programs with hi-tech customers in the battery and battery storage business.

The resulting coated, spherionized, purified graphite (CSPG) material that is expected to be created from the aforementioned tests will be used to provide potential customers of CSPG with samples so that they can begin the material qualification process.

Market Opportunity

Graphite is an ideal battery anode and has dominated the market since the proliferation of lithium-ion batteries. Despite this demand, there is currently no significant production of lithium-ion battery anode material in North America.

Instead, most graphite sold in North America today is sourced from Chinese producers. U.S. President Joe Biden highlighted this sourcing disparity in a 2022 address:

“The United Stated depends on unreliable foreign sources for many of the strategic and critical materials necessary for the clean energy transition – such as lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite and manganese for large-capacity batteries,” he said. “Demand for such materials is projected to increase exponentially as the world transitions to a clean energy economy.”

The U.S. Department of Energy is in the process of awarding $2.8 billion to expand domestic manufacturing of batteries for electric vehicles and combat this foreign dependency. Reflex Advanced Materials has identified its Ruby Graphite Project as a prime candidate for U.S.-sponsored initiatives due to the rarity and scarcity of natural graphite deposits in the country.

Processing graphite domestically in the U.S. is expected to provide Reflex Advanced Materials a competitive advantage as manufacturers begin to seek out American supply in the face of increased diplomatic tension. This is critical, as a rise in anode demand is expected to fuel a shortage of 8 million tonnes of graphite by 2040. World Bank Group projects 494% growth in total graphite demand by 2050.

Leadership Team

Paul Gorman is the CEO and a Director of Reflex Advanced Materials. He brings to the company over 25 years of experience in junior mining finance, public listings, viability assessment and operational rationalization. For 18 years, Mr. Gorman served as president and managing partner of Riverbank Capital, where he played an instrumental role in raising more than $85 million for small-cap companies. In 2008, he funded Industrial Minerals Inc. (later Northern Graphite) and served in an advisory role for four other graphite companies, contributing significantly to the revitalization of the junior graphite space in North America. Mr. Gorman founded Mega Graphite Inc. in 2009 and has served as chief executive for three other companies.

Tasheel Jeerh, CPA, is the company’s CFO. He is a finance and accounting professional with over a decade of experience spanning both public and private sectors. Prior to joining Reflex Advanced Materials, Mr. Jeerh played a pivotal role in the growth of a private upstream oil and gas firm, dealing with over $2 billion in M&A activity and $1 billion in financing activities. He gained his designation at PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he worked as a manager in the assurance practice.

Greg Bell is Project Manager for Reflex Advanced Materials. He is a multi-disciplined engineering management professional with more than 40 years of experience in the natural resources sector. Mr. Bell has successfully built and managed several start-up operations in various capacities. He has been active in graphite and lithium exploration for the past seven years.

Christopher W. Hill leads the company’s Corporate Development initiatives. He is an investor and entrepreneur with over a decade of experience in the capital markets. Mr. Hill began his career as an investment advisor and then began to consult and advise private companies on their paths to becoming publicly traded. He specializes in corporate development and strategic financing utilizing his large network in the capital markets.

Reflex Advanced Materials Corp. (RFLXF), closed Wednesday's trading session at $0.12112, off by 12.2954%, on 10,200 volume. The average volume for the last 3 months is and the stock's 52-week low/high is $0.091/$0.765.

Recent News

Near Intelligence Inc. (NASDAQ: NIR)

The QualityStocks Daily Newsletter would like to spotlight Near Intelligence Inc. (NASDAQ: NIR).

Near Intelligence Inc. (NASDAQ: NIR), a global Data Intelligence Platform, curates one of the world’s largest sources of intelligence on people and places. Near’s patented technology analyzes data to deliver insights on approximately 1.6 billion unique user IDs across 70 million points of interest in more than 44 countries. With Near’s three-pillared approach – high-quality data, privacy, and AI – operational and marketing leaders are empowered with solutions to successfully engage and grow their businesses at scale. With a presence in Pasadena, San Francisco, Paris, Bangalore, Singapore, Sydney, and Tokyo, Near serves enterprises in diverse industries, including retail, real estate, restaurants, travel/tourism, telecom, media, and more.

Established in 2012, Near employs vast data volumes to comprehend consumer behavior across digital and physical realms, ensuring privacy compliance through anonymization and aggregation. The company analyzes behavior around visited places and connected devices.

Near is headquartered in Pasadena, California.

Platform and Services

The Near platform delivers global, high-quality data in a privacy-safe environment, evaluating consumer activity across physical and digital spaces to provide business leaders with deep insights into the places their customers frequent, along with their brand and competitor preferences.
It is built on three fundamental tenets:

  • Global, High-Quality Data: The Near Platform provides high-quality insights about people and places from diverse industries and applications. Through complex data refinement processes, Near converts raw data into powerful insights that empower decision-makers with actionable information.
  • Privacy and Transparency: Data privacy and transparency are deeply ingrained in Near’s foundation. The platform is built on the principle of privacy by design, ensuring that data privacy considerations are integrated into every aspect of its products, processes, and practices. The Near approach empowers business decision-makers with control over their information and adheres to the most stringent global privacy regulations.
  • Data Science and AI Innovation: The Near Platform employs advanced algorithms and machine learning models to deliver high-quality insights, so users can decipher complex consumer behavior patterns and trends.

In August 2023, Near illustrated the value of its intelligence platform in one such industry – quick-service restaurants (QSRs). Many of the world’s largest QSR brands count Near as a trusted partner for high-quality data insights and restaurant analytics. By harnessing Near’s advanced analytics capabilities, top QSRs with combined annual revenues approaching $90B are able to understand consumer movement and behavior patterns, brand affinities, trade areas, and trends.

The company also collaborates with partners to strengthen their datasets by integrating Near’s physical and digital world understanding. Near’s data is always delivered with a privacy-first, consent-led approach via its SaaS-based geospatial analytics platform.

Market Outlook

An analysis from Fortune Business Insights estimated the global business intelligence market was valued at $27.11 billion in 2022 and is projected to grow from $29.42 billion in 2023 to $54.27 billion by 2030, a CAGR of 9.1% during the forecast period.

According to the report, global market growth can be attributed to the increasing adoption of cloud-based Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning services and data analytics across organizations. A surge in demand for flexible architectures and adaptable solutions opens up market expansion opportunities.

Management Team

Anil Mathews is the CEO of Near. He is a visionary who has spent the past 22 years as a serial entrepreneur, building successful businesses around engineering, messaging, and social. He is passionate about creating new market companies with a strategic vision and technology capability that can provide substantial growth. He is also an advisor and investor to numerous startups across the globe.

Shobhit Shukla is President of Near. He currently runs the company’s global business and strategic initiatives, where he is responsible for executing Near’s vision to become the most accurate and privacy-safe source of intelligence on people and places. He holds an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management and advises multiple early-stage startups on growth strategy.

Gladys Kong is COO of Near. She was previously CEO of UberMedia, a data intelligence company acquired by Near. She was also CEO of Go Interactive, a fantasy sports company. Before that, she held Engineering and R&D vice president positions at Snap.com and Idea Lab. She has a bachelor’s degree in engineering and applied science from Caltech and a master’s degree in computer science from UCLA.

Rahul Agarwal is the CFO of Near. He began his career at PwC India and later held accounting and finance roles at HT Media and InMobi, where he rose to the position of Head of Finance, North America. He is a graduate of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and holds an MBA in finance and strategy from the Indian Institute of Management at Bangalore.

Near Intelligence Inc. (NASDAQ: NIR), closed Wednesday's trading session at $0.1618, off by 1.1002%, on 230,131 volume. The average volume for the last 3 months is 2.882M and the stock's 52-week low/high is $0.145/$18.65.

Recent News

Starco Brands Inc. (OTCQB: STCB)

The QualityStocks Daily Newsletter would like to spotlight Starco Brands Inc. (OTCQB: STCB).

Starco Brands Inc. (OTCQB: STCB) is a modern-day invention factory. The company’s unwavering mission is to invent and acquire consumer products and brands with behavior-changing technologies that spark excitement in the everyday.

This consumer product company has grown from a few million dollars in revenue to a current run rate of approximately $67 million in annual revenue in one year.

The company has succeeded by identifying whitespaces in eight core consumer categories and then either: 1) leveraging its internal R&D capabilities and dedicated manufacturing network to invent new technologies and brands or 2) utilizing the management team’s extensive M&A experience to acquire brands that fill the industry void, delighting consumers and retailers alike.

Whether the brand is developed internally or acquired, the company employs a modern marketing playbook to ensure its brands are at the forefront of culture; garnering unprecedented media attention and engagement that supports a robust sales network.

Starco Brands’ core competencies are inventing technologies, acquiring companies, marketing, building trends, pushing awareness, penetrating media (social and otherwise) and executing cutting edge pull-through strategies with a roster of globally recognized celebrities, influencers and media and distribution partners.

A commitment to changing the way people approach everyday activities is innate in the company’s corporate DNA.

The company is based in Santa Monica, California.

Brands

Whereas other consumer products companies are content with evolution, Starco Brands has its mind set on creating a revolution across the industry. From disrupting the spirits industry with Whipshots, the world’s only vodka-infused whipped cream, to Soylent, the original food tech company, Starco Brands is putting the CPG world on notice. Its portfolio of brands includes:

  • Whipshots is a first-of-its-kind alcoholic whipped cream launched in 2021 with celebrity partner Cardi B. Consumers have embraced this boozy concoction, putting it on top of cocktails, coffees and desserts, or enjoying it straight from the can. In just over a year, the brand has sold over 2 MILLION cans, making it one of the fastest growing spirits in history.
  • Winona Pure gives consumers movie theatre popcorn in the comfort of their own homes. All the flavor and none of the additives is the story behind these all-natural, non-GMO popcorn seasoning sprays. A simple spray is all it takes to add the perfect pop of flavor to the classic theatre treat.
  • Art of Sport, co-founded by the great Kobe Bryant, is the number one body care brand for athletes. With a growing line of personal care products tested by the world’s greatest athletes, these daily skin essentials give consumers everything they need to feel fresh, stay protected and confident and perform at their peak every day.
  • Skylar is the first and only line of perfumes on the market that are hypoallergenic and safe for sensitive skin. With the strong support of industry titan Sephora, the brand has quickly attracted a loyal following.
  • Soylent is a technological feat. Originally funded by Google Ventures and Andreessen Horwitz, Soylent is dubbed as the world’s most perfect food. Made from sustainably grown plant-based ingredients, Soylent’s line of products is scientifically developed to provide all the functional ingredients, vitamins, minerals, fats, carbohydrates and protein that the body needs – all in convenient, delicious and affordable packages. Soylent’s innovative product line-up includes complete nutrition powders, ready-to-drink shakes, 100-calorie snack bars, high protein nutrition shakes and energy boosting nutrition shakes. Soylent was also the recipient of the 2023 Product of the Year Award by Kantar, a global leader in consumer research.

With award-winning marketing talent, Starco Brands develops robust, integrated marketing plans for every brand in its portfolio, ensuring an impactful presence across all verticals.

Market Outlook

Starco Brands’ varied brand portfolio gives it access to the growth of numerous product categories that are ripe for innovation.

Through its February 2023 acquisition of complete nutrition pioneer Soylent, Starco Brands is positioned to capitalize on the projected growth of the plant-based nutrition space. Research firm Statista valued the plant-based nutrition market at $29.4 billion in 2020 and forecasts its value at nearly $162 billion by 2030, representing a CAGR of 18.7% for the period.

Likewise, Starco Brands gained improved access to the global fragrance market through its December 2022 acquisition of Skylar. According to a report by Grand View Research, the global perfume market was valued at $50.85 billion in 2022 and is expected to grow to a value of nearly $80 billion by 2030, achieving a CAGR of 5.9% over the forecast period.

The company is primed to expand its access to other growth verticals as it advances on its path to invent and acquire behavior-changing technologies and brands.

Management Team

Ross Sklar is the CEO of Starco Brands. A chemical formulator by trade, he started his first company while still in college. Since 2004, he has made over a dozen acquisitions with multiple exits and controls an eclectic collection of industrial, household, personal care and food and beverage manufacturers covering many consumer-packaged goods categories.

Darin Brown is the Chief Operating Officer of Starco Brands. With over 20 years of experience in chemical manufacturing, business development, finance and mergers and acquisitions, he has scaled the company from the ground up. He oversees all internal operations for Starco Brands and is an integral liaison between the company and Mr. Sklar’s manufacturing facilities.

David Dreyer is Chief Marketing Officer of Starco Brands. With over 25 years of experience working with blue chip and startup brands, he oversees all marketing initiatives for the company. Mr. Dreyer comes to Starco having worked with such standout brands as Apple, Pepsi, Pizza Hut, Dr Pepper, Snapple, Infiniti, The GRAMMY’s, Honda and Stamps.com. He is also a Professor of Advertising at USC’s Annenberg School for Communication.

Starco Brands Inc. (STCB), closed Wednesday's trading session at $0.14, even for the day, on 130 volume. The average volume for the last 3 months is 10,684 and the stock's 52-week low/high is $0.115/$0.265.

Recent News

Prime Harvest Inc.

The QualityStocks Daily Newsletter would like to spotlight Prime Harvest Inc.

Prime Harvest Inc., based in San Diego, California, is a technology-focused, full-service cannabis company with horizontally diversified operations spanning various segments of the cannabis value chain, from licensing acquisition and compliance management to direct-to-consumer operations. The company is leveraging a long-term strategy of investing in the growth and scale of licensed assets anchored by the power of data-driven technology to expand its footprint throughout California.

Sustainability is key to Prime Harvest’s corporate vision. The company aims to ensure that the communities it serves capture their fair share of the fruits of the industry’s growth, including financial profit, employment opportunities, environmental enrichment and impactful innovation through R&D and education.

The company’s mission is to appeal to the ethos of the cannabis consumer by setting a new operational standard emphasizing accountability, sustainability and community. With this commitment, Prime Harvest continues to work toward positively affecting millions of lives through the creation of a world-class platform that caters to strengthening the commercial cannabis pipeline.

Jaxx Cannabis

Jaxx Cannabis is the flagship brand in Prime Harvest’s portfolio. Through Jaxx Cannabis, the company aims to use technology to facilitate a true customer-centric culture while enhancing the overall craft cannabis experience. Jaxx features an expertly curated selection of premium products from some of the most respected brands in the thriving California market.

Key values serving as the foundation of Jaxx Cannabis include:

  • Creating and nurturing a welcoming culture for all
  • Unlocking the true potential of customer value
  • Being innovative in uncovering new ways to grow both the company and the industry
  • Meeting the wants and needs of consumers to promote profitability
  • Remaining accountable for the results of its operations

It is these values that differentiate Prime Harvest and Jaxx Cannabis in the California cannabis sector.

Brand Partnerships

Prime Harvest works diligently to establish strong alliances with complementary brands that are in alignment with its culture and values. Through a combination of deliberate foresight and strategic action, the company seeks to grow existing cannabis brands and continuously discover new, high-potential performers that are primed for long-term success.

These partnerships enhance Prime Harvest’s efforts to transform the world’s cannabis access and bring its consumers high-quality products that are fair for both people and the planet.

Responsibility

Prime Harvest remains committed to the goal of creating a more sustainable environment, now and in the future. Concern for human beings and the environment can be observed in every facet of its operations, including its ongoing R&D activities dedicated to exploring methods of reducing and repurposing waste into composite materials and exploring the potential of the hemp plant for industrial and wellness contributions.

The company is a proud member of the Community Alliance Program, a foundation that seeks to make a difference in local communities by providing financial assistance for educational programs, housing homeless veterans, creating urban farms, and holding local arts initiatives for children and adults. The program also helps explore the natural healing attributes of medical cannabis through research, development, clinical trials, and advocating for the safe access of cannabis to those in need.

Market Overview

Ongoing changes in U.S. state government policies toward cannabis are expected to cause demand for legal marijuana to surge. In addition, the number of indications for which medical marijuana is prescribed continues to increase. These factors are expected to rapidly boost legal sales of cannabis products.

Legal sales across the U.S. hit a record of $17.5 billion in 2020, marking an increase of 46% over 2019, according to Forbes. This strong growth is expected to continue. According to a Grand View Research report, the global legal marijuana market is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 26.7 percent from 2021 to 2028.

California – Prime Harvest’s home state – has consistently led the pack in terms of U.S. cannabis sales. The Motley Fool pegged cannabis spending in the Golden State at $3.8 billion in 2020, more than doubling the second state on its list.

Leadership Team

The Prime Harvest team is composed of true experts in their respective fields focused on building a world-class organization capable of driving the cannabis industry and movement forward.

E. Duane Alexander is the company’s Founder and CEO. He brings to the team more than 25 years of real-world, hands-on cannabis retail, marketing and commercial operations experience. Mr. Alexander has championed 40+ cannabis license applications throughout the western U.S. to date.

John Wilczak is the COO of Prime Harvest. He has 30+ years of executive management, strategy development & configuration experience with GE, pharmaceutical and agriculture companies. Mr. Wilczak is a Brown & Columbia MBA with vast knowledge of technology driven intellectual properties.

Andrea Jenson is the Chief Financial Officer of Prime Harvest. As CFO, she is responsible for all the company’s financial functions, including accounting, corporate finance and investor relations. Her career spans more than 20 years of varied experience in financial management, business leadership and financial strategy.

John Kazanjian is the VP of Business Development of Prime Harvest. He has worked over 40 years in business operations, brand marketing, sales and investor/lender communications. Mr. Kazanjian earned his B.S. from Rutgers University and his MBA from Harvard University.

Johann Balbuena is the Chief Marketing Officer of Prime Harvest. She has more than six years of experience in California cannabis licensing acquisition and compliance management. Ms. Balbuena has led multimedia production and content marketing efforts for the likes of the Social Club TV app, The Emerald Cup, High Times, Weedmaps and Synergy.


Recent News

chart

The QualityStocks Numbers Report

By The Numbers Chart

Top Performers


The QualityStocks Sponsored News


The QualityStocks DailyNetwork Sponsors

CannabisNewsWireCanadianCannabisNewsWireCNW420CannabisNewsWatchCBDWireCryptoCurrencyWireGot Stocks?Got Stock Tips?Green On The StreetHempWireNewsInvestorOutreachCenterMissionIRMissionIR MediaMissionPR MissionSMRNetworkNewsWireNetworkNewsWatchNetworkWireQualityStocks MediaQualityStocksQualityStocks TwitsSeriousTradersSmallCapRelationsSocial Media RelationsSmallCapSocietyTiny GemsTip.usTraderPower

ActionStockPicksAgressive StocksBetting On Wall StreetGreen Car StocksGreen Energy StocksHomeRunStocksInvestorBrandWireQStocksStock BeatsStockTipsStocks To Buy NowTerrificStocks

About The QualityStocks Daily

The QualityStocks Daily Newsletter brings you the latest company News and Profiles featuring the "Top Movers and Shakers" from the Small Cap Market each trading day. QualityStocks is committed to bring our subscribers Public companies in our Newsletter Section "Free of Charge" based on Percentage gained, Momentum, Press, and or Company Fundamentals.

Why do we spotlight companies for Free?
We Want To bring our subscribers the top movers in an unbiased setting.

"Homework Eliminates Mistakes"
Please never invest in a company anyone profiles unless you do the proper research and due diligence.

QualityStocks is compensated by the companies in The QS Company Corner. These companies will include a disclaimer with the amount and term of compensation.

Please consult the QualityStocks Market Basics Section on our site.

The QualityStocks Numbers Report

By The Numbers Chart

Top Performers


QualityStocksTwits

QualityStocksTwits is your stock tracking service portal to Twitter's universe of stock picks, commentary and research.

Visit Portal


The QualityStocks Sponsored News


The QualityStocks DailyNetwork Sponsors

CannabisNewsWireCanadianCannabisNewsWireCNW420CannabisNewsWatchCBDWireCryptoCurrencyWireGot Stocks?Got Stock Tips?Green On The StreetHempWireNewsInvestorOutreachCenterMissionIRMissionIR MediaMissionPR MissionSMRNetworkNewsWireNetworkNewsWatchNetworkWireQualityStocks MediaQualityStocksQualityStocks TwitsSeriousTradersSmallCapRelationsSocial Media RelationsSmallCapSocietyTiny GemsTip.usTraderPower

ActionStockPicksAgressive StocksBetting On Wall StreetGreen Car StocksGreen Energy StocksHomeRunStocksInvestorBrandWireQStocksStock BeatsStockTipsStocks To Buy NowTerrificStocks

About The QualityStocks Daily

The QualityStocks Daily Newsletter brings you the latest company News and Profiles featuring the "Top Movers and Shakers" from the Small Cap Market each trading day. QualityStocks is committed to bring our subscribers Public companies in our Newsletter Section "Free of Charge" based on Percentage gained, Momentum, Press, and or Company Fundamentals.

Why do we spotlight companies for Free?
We Want To bring our subscribers the top movers in an unbiased setting.

"Homework Eliminates Mistakes"
Please never invest in a company anyone profiles unless you do the proper research and due diligence.

QualityStocks is compensated by the companies in The QS Company Corner. These companies will include a disclaimer with the amount and term of compensation.

Please consult the QualityStocks Market Basics Section on our site.

The QualityStocks Numbers Report

By The Numbers Chart

Top Performers


QualityStocksTwits

QualityStocksTwits is your stock tracking service portal to Twitter's universe of stock picks, commentary and research.

Visit Portal


The QualityStocks Sponsored News


The QualityStocks DailyNetwork Sponsors

CannabisNewsWireCanadianCannabisNewsWireCNW420CannabisNewsWatchCBDWireCryptoCurrencyWireGot Stocks?Got Stock Tips?Green On The StreetHempWireNewsInvestorOutreachCenterMissionIRMissionIR MediaMissionPR MissionSMRNetworkNewsWireNetworkNewsWatchNetworkWireQualityStocks MediaQualityStocksQualityStocks TwitsSeriousTradersSmallCapRelationsSocial Media RelationsSmallCapSocietyTiny GemsTip.usTraderPower

ActionStockPicksAgressive StocksBetting On Wall StreetGreen Car StocksGreen Energy StocksHomeRunStocksInvestorBrandWireQStocksStock BeatsStockTipsStocks To Buy NowTerrificStocks

About The QualityStocks Daily

The QualityStocks Daily Newsletter brings you the latest company News and Profiles featuring the "Top Movers and Shakers" from the Small Cap Market each trading day. QualityStocks is committed to bring our subscribers Public companies in our Newsletter Section "Free of Charge" based on Percentage gained, Momentum, Press, and or Company Fundamentals.

Why do we spotlight companies for Free?
We Want To bring our subscribers the top movers in an unbiased setting.

"Homework Eliminates Mistakes"
Please never invest in a company anyone profiles unless you do the proper research and due diligence.

QualityStocks is compensated by the companies in The QS Company Corner. These companies will include a disclaimer with the amount and term of compensation.

Please consult the QualityStocks Market Basics Section on our site.