CHF WEEKLY ROUND-UP: September 2-6, 2024

September has just started, and it is already living up to its reputation of being the toughest month of the year for stock prices, which tumbled during the first trading week of the month. Commodity prices were led downward by oil and copper. It's typically a volatile period with October frequently presenting great buying opportunities.

The Bank of Canada (BOC) cut its key policy rate by 25 basis points to 4.25% on Wednesday, marking the third consecutive cut after two previous quarter-percentage-point cuts in both June and July. Canada’s unemployment rate increased from 6.4% to 6.6% in August, suggesting continues market weakness and more rate cuts to come as BOC must move from a plan on slowing the economy to trying to prevent a recession.

The US labor market picked back up in August after a surprisingly weak jobs report the month before, but still fell short of forecasts, as the unemployment rate dropped to 4.2% from 4.3%. Expectations became more widespread that Fed officials would reduce interest rates by half a percentage point at their September 18, 2024, meeting to work against sustained weakness in hiring.  A second rate cut appears to be priced into the S&P.  Tricky business in an election year.

Gold was pushed below USD$ 2,500/oz early in the week but has rebounded to USD$ 2,505/oz this morning. September is traditionally the weakest month for gold before rising through the end of the year. Look for buying opportunities in gold and gold equities, especially the undervalued junior sector. Silver continues to lag at USD$ 28.50/oz today, as it trades more like an industrial metal than an investment metal.

Base metals are all down through the first week of September but may be seeing some modest gains on a U.S. Dollar at its weakest this year. Copper is near USD$ 4.00/lb. today. Softer-than-expected Chinese commodity demand, as well as the downside risks to China’s forward economic outlook has led to a more selective view of mineral commodity investments. This more negative view may be creating openings in selective investments.

Fears of a China slowdown also continue to impact Battery and Critical material markets. Lithium, at USD$10.60/kg, is at mid-2019 prices. Cobalt at USD$11.00 is near a 10-year low. Even Chinese EV manufacturers are reconsidering investments in output expansion, as are American car makers. The future is electric, but it will take longer to arrive, look to western supply chain players for growth opportunities.

It has been a productive week for our clients, and we are pleased to present to you our round-up of their news released between September 2-6, 2024.

Technology

On September 3, 2024, Visionstate Corp. (TSXV: VIS) provided a Corporate Update on its 3rd quarter results.

Q3 has historically been a slower quarter for Visionstate IoT Inc. due to seasonal factors, particularly affecting revenue related to one time set up fees. However, the company anticipates sturdy growth in Q4, driven by new contracts with large Canadian colleges and universities. These contracts will contribute to Visionstate’s Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) revenue model, further strengthening its residual income streams. The company also expects additional fees from the development of new auditing features for WANDA, which will enhance monthly revenue.

Visionstate’s management remains focused on profitability, with software margins exceeding 70% and continued cost control measures. The company successfully closed a $500,000 financing round post-Q3, securing the necessary working capital to support its growth plans, including U.S. market expansion, AI development, and other key initiatives.

Growing Market Penetration and Endorsements

A recent endorsement from Queen's University highlighted WANDA's effectiveness in tracking cleaning tasks and protocols, reinforcing the platform's value in maintaining sanitary environments. This validation underscores the ongoing importance of robust cleaning programs, even as the immediate threat of COVID-19 has subsided.

In response to growing deployments at larger institutions, Visionstate has made targeted investments in its reporting and analytics capabilities. These enhancements ensure that WANDA continues to deliver high value to its customers, facilitated by Visionstate’s Canadian distribution partner.

Strategic Focus on AI Integration

Demonstrating its commitment to innovation, Visionstate has re-branded an operating division from Next Vision IoT Inc. to Next Vision AI Inc., emphasizing a strategic focus on artificial intelligence. This initiative is being driven in partnership with the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute ( Amii ), a leading AI development institute based in Edmonton. The 12-month project with Amii aims to integrate AI into the WANDA platform, with key developments in schedule and route optimization. These AI-driven improvements will enable facility management companies to optimize cleaning routes and schedules, enhancing operational efficiency and reinforcing Visionstate’s leadership in the sector.

U.S. Market Expansion

With a secure distribution partner in Canada, Visionstate is now turning its attention to the U.S. market. The U.S. represents a significant opportunity for expansion, particularly given the presence of Visionstate's largest customer, the world's leading private equity real estate firm.  As part of its expansion strategy, Visionstate will participate in the ISSA Cleaning Show in Las Vegas from November 19-24, 2024. For direct U.S. sales, Visionstate will retain all revenue from license fees, except where resellers are involved. Additionally, the company is rolling out direct marketing and digital lead generation campaigns to drive sales leads in this new market.

Sol Spaces Inc.

Visionstate’s portfolio company, Sol Spaces Inc. ( solspaces.com ) has made significant strides in the current quarter, generating approximately $150,000 in revenue. This success is largely due to the sale of residential greenhouses and the development of a community-scale greenhouse for a prominent First Nations community near Edmonton. This project addresses critical food security challenges and exemplifies Sol Spaces’ commitment to innovative, resilient infrastructure.

The company is also advancing its development of next generation living spaces, focusing on energy efficiency and affordability, which aligns with Visionstate’s broader commitment to sustainable technology. Visionstate Corp. owns approximately 40% of Sol Spaces Inc.

On September 3, 2024, Tenet Fintech Group Inc. (CSE: PKK) (OTC Pink: PKKFF) announced the appointment of Dr. George Krucik to its Board of Directors. Dr. Krucik has a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science and Mathematics from the University of Manitoba, a Medical Doctor degree from the University of Manitoba and Master of Business Administration from the University of San Francisco. Dr. Krucik will be replacing Mr. Sanjay Sharma on the Board as Mr. Sharma resigned from the Board to reduce his professional workload and to spend more time with his family.

Dr. Krucik is a physician, inventor, entrepreneur, senior executive and early adopter of AI that has spent almost 40 years in Silicon Valley, where his unique combination of expertise in the medical field, computer science and AI has seen him bring to market several innovative online and cloud-based medical products and has led to an impressive patent portfolio. Dr. Krucik is currently the founder and CTO of iTreatMD (https://www.itreatmd.com/), an Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) certified Electronic Medical Record (EMR) platform that leverages AI and machine learning to simplify medical professionals' documentation processes. Prior to founding iTreatMD, Dr. Krucik spent several years in management and executive positions at both private and public companies, including Editor-in-Chief at Healthline.com, Product Manager at Salesforce.com, and CEO of Autodesk Australia.

"I am a strong believer that AI can be applied in various industries to dramatically and positively impact the way the industries operate, which is our objective for EMRs with iTreatMD in the medical space, I very much look forward to working with Tenet's Chief Analytics Officer, Dr. Luis Rocha, Tenet's data science team and capital markets consultants to contribute in any way I can to help bring Tenet's Equity Insider product offering to market. I also look forward to working with the other members of Tenet's executive team and Board of Directors on the Company's strategic vision as it puts increasingly more emphasis on AI, data analysis and U.S. expansion," commented Dr. Krucik.

Tenet

On September 4, 2024, Tenet Fintech Group Inc. (CSE: PKK) (OTC Pink: PKKFF) announced that it has closed a non-brokered private placement financing by selling 39,075,000 units to "accredited investors" within the meaning of NI 45-106 - Prospectus Exemptions and under the applicable securities laws, with each unit priced at $0.10 for gross proceeds of $3,907,500 (the "Financing").

Each unit (a "Unit") is comprised of one common share of the Company (a "Common Share") and one Common Share purchase warrant (a "Warrant"). Each Warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Common Share at an exercise price of $0.20 for a period of 36 months from the date of issuance thereof (the "Expiry Date"). After a period of 12 months from the date of their issuance, if at any time the price of the Common Shares closes at or above $0.30 for 10 consecutive trading days, the Expiry Date of the Warrants will be reduced to thirty 30 days (the "Accelerated Expiry Date"). Any Warrants remaining unexercised after the Accelerated Expiry Date will be cancelled.