Earth Day!

 

Monday April 22, 2024 is Earth Day!  The first Earth Day was organized in 1970.  The previous year Californians had witnessed the environmental devastation of a record-setting oil spill near Santa Barbara.  College students just back from Spring Break but not yet weighted down by final exams took to the streets, roadsides and parks  -  not just to demonstrate against polluting industry - but to pick up trash, clear away brush and plant trees and flowers.

Any day can be Earth Day.  Every day should be Earth Day!  

Despite the aspirations of billionnaires and other posturing psuedo-leaders, there is no Planet Earth B  -  at least not for humans.  We must keep this planet in good working order to survive as a species.

Celebrate Earth Day on Monday April 22nd and then make every other a day to help the environment - nuture plants, get along with animals and shield water from pollutants.

Products with the image above are available on Etsy. 

Holiday Wishes

 

Easter blessing to all!

May this season bring joy, hope and renewal.

The Associates at

Crystal Equity Research

Find more beautiful spring images at FineArtAmerica.com

 

Janover: Bringing Better Experience to Real Estate Lending

 PRIME SERIES

• Janover brings a new search and application platform to the commercial real estate lending market, using technology and artificial intelligence to make the process more human.

• Real estate lending is expected to recover in 2024, after inflation, rising interest rates and persistent vacancies due to persistent work-from home arrangements led to a decade low in 2023.

• Recovery in real estate loan activity or none, frictions in the lending process present obstacles and increase costs for borrowers and frustrate lenders looking for customers.        

• The Janover team believes they can democratize the prevailing real estate lending sector with a platform that brings transparency to lender discovery and streamlines applications.

• A recent strategic acquisition of a complementary business and new partnerships are expected to boost growth beginning in the current year.

• Janover stock appears to have gone unnoticed by investors, leaving an unappreciated opportunity in the fintech sector.

 

The real estate industry is staging for a recovery this year as inflation subsides and interest rates stabilize.  The Mortgage Bankers Association estimates the industry could experience 19% increase in the dollar value of all real estate loan volume in 2024 over 2023.  Commercial and multifamily mortgage loans are expected to lead the industry with 29% year-over-year increase in loan value. 

The turnaround is not likely there will be a complete U-turn to how things were in real estate lending before the coronavirus pandemic with the attendant inflation and higher interest rates.  Demand for office space has been profoundly altered, shifting plans and strategies for real estate projects. Perhaps more importantly, real estate professionals are looking for change in how they go about their business.

Decision makers of all stripes have grown accustomed to the immediacy and convenience of digital applications.  The analog practices of the past are just not good enough for the present-day real estate sector.  Technology based on artificial intelligence (AI) is well-suited to industry that requires participants to wade through vast amounts of data.  Programs enhanced with AI can efficiently sift through the bits and bytes to streamline property search and analysis, deepen due diligence, fine tune project design or match compatible counterparties.

Clearmind Medicine: Exploring a Pathway out of Alcohol Abuse

 PRIME SERIES

Clearmind Medicine (CMND) is a clinical stage pharmaceutical company with the promising CMND-100 candidate at the front end of its pipeline.  CMND-100 is based on the psychoactive compound MEAI, shorthand for the synthetic molecule 5-MEthoxy-2-AminoIndine.  The Company purchased the compound in 2021, and has since completed several pre-clinical studies in animals to establish safety and metabolic profiles.  

One of the pre-clinical studies tested MEAI as a curb for alcohol cravings in ‘binge drinking’ mice.  The MEAI compound interacts with central nervous system elements, specifically serotonergic receptors 5-HT1A and 5-HT2B as well as adrenergic receptors α2A, α2B and α2C.  The receptor 5-HT1A is particularly important in alcohol dependence, so agonists of this receptor could help in reducing alcohol intake.  Importantly, MEAI may have application for other binge-like diseases such as cocaine abuse and overeating.

Results for early tests have been promising, prompting the Company to make plans for human clinical trials.  In early 2023, an Investigational New Drug (IND) application was submitted to the U.S. Federal Drug Administration (FDA) for the first human clinical trials of MEAI as CMND-100 aimed at patients with Alcohol Abuse Disorder or AUD. 

The U.S. trials will be conducted at the Yale School of Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.  A similar application has been submitted to Israel’s Pharmaceutical Division of the Ministry of Health, which regulates the drug registration process in that country.