With diversity being both a legal and popular factor in business, and with businesses facing a more diverse customer base, companies are making a conscious effort to develop and maintain a more culturally diverse workforce. Immigration, politics, new generations, women in leadership, family dynamics, income, and a shift in religious beliefs are just some of the factors affecting diversity. According to the Pew Research Center (http://nnw.fm/9CgxR), America is expected to become significantly more ethnically diverse in the next 50 years, due partially to new Asian and Hispanic immigration.

Cashless payments have been around for much longer than today's shopper probably suspects. An account in the Safarnama, or Book of Travels, by the 11th-century Persian scholar Naser-e-Khosraw, relates how one can shop without using cash: "The procedure at the bazaar is as follows: you turn over whatever you have to a moneychanger and get in return a draft; then you buy whatever you need, deducting the price from the moneychanger's draft."

Aconex Limited (ASX:ACX), a global leader of digital innovation in construction, has been selected by the judges as a finalist in the Technology Supplier of the Year category of the 2017 Construction News Specialists Awards, the only national awards that recognise the best specialist contractors from across the whole of the UK.

Peak Asset Management's latest Corporate Opportunity, Lifespot Health, is now live. Bids close Wednesday 10am given exceptional demand. Peak's last three deals are up at least 100% since listing as at close on Friday, 2 December 2016.

Cancer is the great scourge of our age. This year, 1.7 million Americans will find out they have the disease and some 600,000 will die from it. In total, approximately 40 percent of the population can expect to be diagnosed with cancer during their lifetime. The name "cancer" is derived from the Greek word for crab and may have been bestowed to indicate the tenacity of the disorder. Cancer tends to persist with the same relentlessness as the claws of a crab cling to a victim.

Social media has become a dominating force in the marketing world over the past decade. Businesses use this form of marketing to attract prospective customers, increase sales, and build relationships with their target markets. According to an article by Neil Patel (http://nnw.fm/6FCdl), research has found that social media drives over 30% of overall referral traffic on the Internet.

A legal dispute with the European Patent Office over the European patent for its lead product candidate surprisingly presents a strong buying opportunity for clinical stage biopharmaceutical company Alder Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALDR), according to an analysis report (http://nnw.fm/8j0TO) released by Aegis Capital Corp on November 23. As such, Aegis analysts reiterated a 'Buy' rating for the company and proposed a higher stock price target of $41, compared to the $25.28 stock price at the time the report was issued.

Before the opening bell, Net Element, Inc. (NASDAQ:NETE), through subsidiary PayOnline, announced a new partnership with Flight.az, a subsidiary of Delta Group, Ltd that's recognized as a leading online travel agency (OTA) in Azerbaijan. Under the terms of this contract, PayOnline integrated secure online, mobile payments acceptance functionality, as well as its proprietary 'Avia2Split' technology, into the OTA's existing booking platform, giving Flight.az the tools to better serve its target market of roughly 10 million people living in Southwestern Asia.

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKBA), a biopharma company that focuses on the development of innovative treatments for chronic kidney disease-related anemia, is maintaining its 'Buy' rating, with a recommended stock price target of $18 compared to the current $8.90, according to an Aegis Capital Corp. report (http://nnw.fm/F4ezY) released on November 15. The rating and suggested stock price were based on discounted cash flow analysis and the estimated 2016-2022 EBITDA, with a discount rate of eight percent, the report said.

Fortress Biotech, Inc. (NASDAQ:FBIO) is not putting all its eggs in one basket. This is a biopharmaceutical company with multiple revenue streams and a profuse product portfolio so diversified that Harry Markowitz, the father of modern portfolio theory, might tip his hat to the way the company has sought to mitigate developmental risks. Fortress' diverse product pipeline also gives it multiple shots at hitting its financial goals, increased by the symbiotic relationship between development areas. The research platforms are structured so that success in one area is likely to add impetus to another.