Newmarket Gold, $1.40, symbol NMI on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 134.3 million; Market cap: $188.0 million; www.newmarketgoldinc.com), has its shares listed in Canada, but its three 100%-owned operating gold mines—Fosterville, Cosmo and Stawell—are in Australia.

Newmarket recently merged with Crocodile Gold. The combined company has more than 200,000 ounces of annual production.

In the three months ended June 30, 2015, Newmarket’s revenue fell 4.6%, to $66.0 million from $69.2 million a year earlier (all figures except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars).

The company earned $12.1 million, or $0.10 a share, up sharply from $3.9 million, or $0.03. Cash flow was $24.2 million, or $0.21 a share, a 55.1% increase from $15.6 million, or $0.13, a year ago. The gains came from lower costs and improved efficiency.

In the latest quarter, Newmarket produced 55,998 ounces of gold, up 3.7% from 54,024 ounces. However, it sold its gold for an average of $1,196 an ounce, down 7.4% from $1,291. It forecasts 2015 output of 205,000 to 220,000 ounces.

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Milestone Apartment REIT, $14.99, symbol MST.UN on Toronto (Units outstanding: 60.4 million; Market cap: $906.1 million; www.milestonereit.com), holds 61 “garden-style” apartment properties containing 20,232 units in 14 cities throughout the U.S. Southeast and Southwest.

Milestone continues to grow by acquisition. In the first half of 2015, it purchased buildings in Orlando, Atlanta and Kansas City for a total of $101.3 million (all amounts except unit price and market cap in U.S. dollars). In all, these properties contain 819 units. At the same time, the trust is selling older properties to improve the overall quality of its portfolio.

The REIT’s new properties increased its revenue by 22.8% in the three months ended June 30, 2015, to $54.8 million from $44.6 million a year earlier. Cash flow jumped 34.3%, to $14.9 million from $11.1 million. The trust sold units to fund these purchases. As a result, cash flow per unit rose at a slower pace of 20.0%, to $0.24 from $0.20.

As of June 30, 2015, Milestone’s occupancy rate was a high 95.2%, up from 95.0% a year earlier.

In August 2015, the trust agreed to pay $45.1 million for a 372-unit apartment building in Dallas. It expects to close this deal by September 30, 2015.

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Union Pacific Corp., $88.25, symbol UNP on New York (Shares outstanding: 867.7 million; Market cap: $76.2 billion; www.up.com), owns Union Pacific Railroad, the largest railroad in the U.S. by track miles and revenue. Union Pacific has 31,974 miles of track serving the western two-thirds of the country.

The company’s revenue mix is as follows: industrial, 20%; intermodal (merchandise in containers hauled by ship, train or truck), 20%; coal, 18%; agricultural, 17%; chemicals, 16%; and automotive, 9%.

In the three months ended June 30, 2015, Union Pacific’s revenue fell 9.7%, to $5.4 billion from $6.0 billion a year earlier. Earnings per share declined 3.5%, to $1.38 from $1.43.

The railway saw 6% fewer shipments in the latest quarter; coal volumes dropped 31%, industrial products fell 14% and agricultural goods slipped 7%. Automotive shipments rose 3%.

The company faces a number of challenges:

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Dollarama Inc., $87.60, symbol DOL on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 127.9 million; Market cap: $11.2 billion; www.dollarama.com), is Canada’s leading dollar store operator, with 972 locations across the country. It aims to raise that to 1,200 by 2020.

The company has a strong position in a growing niche. It’s reporting rising sales and profits, and it continues to open new stores.

In addition, it has an alliance with El Salvadoran chain Dollar City, which gives it exposure to fast-growing Central American economies. Dollarama supplies its products and expertise to Dollar City, which has about 15 stores in El Salvador and aims to expand into neighbouring countries. Dollarama receives a handling fee in return and has an option to buy control of the company beginning in February 2019.

In its fiscal 2016 first quarter, which ended May 3, 2015, Dollarama’s sales rose 13.0%, to $566.1 million from $501.1 million a year earlier. Same-store sales, which exclude the 73 locations the company opened in the past year, net of stores closed, gained 6.9%. Of that total, 5.9% came from larger transactions, while higher sales volumes accounted for the other 1.0%.

Dollarama introduced items priced at more than $1.00 in 2009 and has gradually rolled out many non-grocery products priced as high as $3.00. In the latest quarter, 73.2% of its sales came from goods selling for more than $1.00, up from 62.3% a year earlier.

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D-BOX Technologies Inc., $0.34, symbol DBO on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 163.8 million; Market cap: $54.9 million; www.d-box.com), has developed technology for enhancing the experience of movies, amusement park rides and training simulators.

The company mainly sells its products to movie theatre operators. Once they’re embedded inside seats, they cause them to sway and vibrate during the film. D-BOX also digitally encodes movies with the appropriate visual and sound cues, which its computer servers synchronize with the seats.

The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is D-BOX’s largest shareholder, with an 11.67% stake.

D-BOX has installed (or is contracted to install) its system at 402 screens in 29 countries. Its customers include large chains like Cineplex in Canada and Cinemark in the U.S. The company is also adapting its technology to home entertainment and video game systems.

In its fiscal 2016 first quarter, which ended June 30, 2015, D-Box’s revenue jumped 57.6%, to $7.2 million from $4.6 million a year earlier. Revenue from theatre operators (67% of the total) rose 60.2%, while home systems revenue (5%) gained 48.9%. Revenue from industrial clients, such as amusement parks and simulators (28%), rose 53.2%.

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Medtronic plc, $70.24, symbol MDT on New York (Shares outstanding: 1.4 billion; Market cap: $99.3 billion; www.medtronic.com), is the world’s largest maker of implantable biomedical devices, which it sells in over 120 countries.

Medtronic’s Cardiac and Vascular Group supplied 52% of its 2014 sales. The remaining 48% came from its Restorative Therapies Group.

The company was formed when U.S.-based Medtronic Inc. acquired Covidien plc for $49.9 billion in the fourth quarter of 2014. The combined firm, called Medtronic plc, is now based in Ireland for tax purposes.

The deal was Medtronic’s largest, giving it Covidien’s lineup of hospital supplies, which ranges from surgical staplers to ventilators. The move should help it compete with Johnson & Johnson (symbol JNJ on New York), the world’s leading medical device firm.

At the same time, Covidien’s Irish domicile will make it easier for Medtronic to deploy the almost $14 billion in cash it held overseas to avoid being taxed on it under U.S. law.

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John Templeton, one of history’s most successful investors, played a big role in my investment education. One of Templeton’s most valuable investing guidelines is, “Invest at the point of maximum pessimism”. It’s also among the easiest Templeton quotes to misunderstand, and one that’s often misapplied. Note that Templeton didn’t say, “Invest only at the point of maximum pessimism”. Yet many investors take this quote to mean that you should hold your funds in T-bills or a bank account until you see “blood running in the streets” (a quote from another famed investor). That would be problematic to say the least. Pessimism is an open-ended condition. Pessimism never gets so bad that it can’t get worse. Maximum pessimism is easiest to spot in retrospect, since you can then measure it against subsequent events. One good example occurred in February 2009. A prominent Toronto investment figure, known for strong long-time views on stocks (bearish) and gold (bullish), convened a meeting in a downtown Toronto theatre. Some of the most prominent economic pessimists on the continent came to deliver bad news on the outlook....

Goldcorp, $16.78, symbol G on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 830.0 million; Market cap: $13.9 billion; www.goldcorp.com), is a senior gold producer that also mines silver and base metals. Goldcorp’s mines (wholly owned and jointly held) include Red Lake and two others in Canada; Penasquito and two more in Mexico; Marlin in Guatemala; Wharf in the U.S.; and Pueblo Viejo in the Dominican Republic. In addition, the company is developing eight other projects in four countries. In 2014, Goldcorp produced 2.78 million ounces of gold and 36.8 million ounces of silver. It expects to produce 3.3 million to 3.6 million ounces of gold this year....

Cambium Learning Group, $4.93, symbol ABCD on Nasdaq (Shares outstanding: 45.5 million; Market cap: $224.5 million; www.cambiumlearningtechnologies.com), is a U.S.-based maker of computer software and hardware for students ranging from pre-kindergarten to adult. Its four main brands are Learning A-Z, Explorelearning, Voyager Sopris Learning and Kurzweil Education. In the three months ended June 30, 2015, Cambium’s revenue rose 3.3%, to $37.5 million from $36.3 million a year earlier. The company made $0.04 a share in the latest quarter, compared to a loss of $0.03 a share. Cash flow jumped to $0.17 a share from $0.10. Cambium typically loses money in the first quarter: the period historically represents less than 15% of its bookings, which tend to build through the second quarter and peak during the third quarter....

Exchange Income Corp., $24.18, symbol EIF on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 23.2 million; Market cap: $560.9 million; www.exchangeincomecorp.ca), operates in two main areas: aviation and manufacturing. The aviation business (77% of revenue) includes regional airlines Perimeter Aviation, Keewatin Air, Calm Air International, Bearskin Lake Air Service, Custom Helicopters and Regional One. These airlines serve communities in Manitoba, Ontario and Nunavut. The manufacturing business (23% of revenue) includes WesTower Communications Canada (a maker and installer of wireless communication towers), Jasper Tank, Overlanders Manufacturing, Water Blast Manufacturing and Stainless Fabrication....