BMW AG, 86.50 euros, symbol BMW on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (Shares outstanding: 602.0 million; Market cap: 55.7 billion euros; www.bmw.com), makes cars, motorcycles and engines. It was founded in 1916 and is headquartered in Munich, Germany. BMW’s shares have dropped lately, along with slowing car sales in China. The stock rose as high as 122.60 euros in March 2015. German carmakers are among the largest foreign manufacturers in China, accounting for nearly one in four of all new cars sold there. They produced almost four million vehicles in the country last year, seven times more than a decade ago, and German auto output in China has increased 29% a year on average since 2005—even growing at the peak of the 2008 financial crisis....

Mosaic Capital Corp., $6.99, symbol M on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 8.5 million; Market cap: $59.3 million; www.mosaicfund.com), acquires majority stakes in small industrial companies in what it sees as mature market niches. Right now, it controls 11 firms, including one commercial real estate investment company, all in Western Canada. These holdings are: Printing Unlimited (100% interest), First West Properties (100%), Remote Waste (98%), Kendall’s Supply (90%), Polar Geomatic (90%), Allied Cathodic (80%), Ambassador Mechanical (75%), Place-Crete Systems (75%), South East Construction (75%), Streamline Mechanical (70%) and Industrial Scaffold Services (67.5%). In the three months ended June 30, 2015, Mosaic’s revenue jumped 42.0%, to $50.1 million from $35.2 million a year earlier. That’s mostly due to contributions from Place-Crete (acquired in September 2014) and South East Construction (November 2014). Mosaic lost $0.32 a share, compared to a $0.14-a-share profit a year ago, but cash flow per share fell only slightly, to $0.62 from $0.63....

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., $65.64, symbol WMT on New York (Shares outstanding: 3.2 billion; Market cap: $213.8 billion; www.walmart.com), has had a particularly steep downturn this year, from a January peak near $91, to an August low below $62. The drop began while the rest of the U.S. market was largely moving sideways. The company did have a slight earnings decline in its first and second quarters, somewhat deeper than anticipated. But the plunge in the stock seems out of proportion. The stock price drop may be related to Wal-Mart’s mid-February announcement that it would raise the minimum wage it pays in the U.S. from $9 to $10 an hour. Its $9 minimum rate was already $1.75 or 24.1% above the $7.25 minimum per hour that is federally mandated across the country. The raise only affects the company’s lowest-paid U.S. employees, but it still applies to 40% of its 1.3 million workforce. The company also said it would make scheduling of hours more predictable, tackling a long-time source of worker complaint. Some investors may have sold Wal-Mart because they feared the higher wages would cut too deeply into the company’s profits. However, this move may be wisely timed. The Obama administration has been using its regulatory power to help revive the long-standing downturn in U.S. union membership. Wal-Mart is non-union and wants to keep it that way. Then too, union activists and community organizers have been targeting a $15 an hour minimum wage. The company may also feel that demographic changes are likely to put upward pressure on wages these next few years in any event....

Cyberark Software Ltd., $48.67, symbol CYBR on Nasdaq (Shares outstanding: 31.7 million; Market cap: $1.5 billion; www.cyberark.com), is an Israel-based maker of software for protecting computer networks from online attackers. Unlike other computer security software, which aims to prevent attacks before they occur, Cyberark’s system only activates after it detects a threat inside a network. It then aims to isolate the threat and lock down the servers or individual computers to keep sensitive data from being transferred. The company also makes software that prevents online intruders from accessing accounts that have privileged access to computer networks, such as system administrators. Demand for Cyberark’s products is growing quickly in response to several high-profile online attacks, such as the recent theft of credit card data from Target and Home Depot....

BMO S&P/TSX Laddered Preferred Share Index ETF, $10.93, symbol ZPR on Toronto (Units outstanding: 90.6 million; Market cap: $990.3 million; www.etfs.bmo.com), holds Canadian floating-rate preferred shares. Issuers include Bank of Montreal, Enbridge, BCE, TransCanada and Canadian Utilities. The fund’s MER is 0.45%, and it currently yields 4.9%. Note that the dividends you receive from this fund benefit from the Canadian dividend tax credit. Floating-rate preferred shares pay dividends that fluctuate with changes in interest rates. The dividend rate may range from 50% to 100% of (usually) the prime bank rate. As interest rates rise, so do floating-preferred dividend yields....

MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates, $77.09, symbol MDA on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 36.2 million; Market cap: $2.8 billion; www.mdacorporation.com), offers space-based systems for delivering a range of services, including television and radio, broadband Internet and mobile communications. The company is a leading supplier of communication satellites, satellite-antenna subsystems, and associated ground infrastructure and support services. Its main customers in this area are makers and operators of communication satellites and government agencies worldwide. In the three months ended June 30, 2015, MacDonald Dettwiler’s revenue fell 5.2%, to $523.7 million from $552.7 million a year earlier. The decline mainly resulted from lower activity levels on the Radarsat Constellation Mission program. Excluding one-time items, earnings per share rose 4.0%, to $1.56 from $1.50....

Michael Kors Holdings, $44.33, symbol KORS on New York (Shares outstanding: 193.4 million; Market cap: $8.6 billion; www.michaelkors.com), designs, distributes and sells branded men’s and women’s clothing, accessories, footwear and fragrances. Michael Kors operates in three segments: retail (49% of sales), wholesale (47%) and licensing (4%). It markets its products under the Michael Kors brand. The company owns and operates 343 stores in North America and 183 internationally, mostly in Europe and Japan....

Capital Power Corp., $19.28, symbol CPX on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 101.4 million; Market cap: $2.0 billion; www.capitalpower.com), is one of Canada’s largest independent power producers, with interests in 3,500 megawatts of generation capacity. In 2013, it sold its New England power assets to Emera for $541 million U.S. The company now has the bulk of its generating capacity in Alberta. Alberta Premier Rachel Notley has called for the accelerated phase-out of coal power, both while she served as the NDP environment critic and more recently during the election campaign. Capital Power has almost 60% of its generating capacity in coal-fired plants in Alberta, so it would be very vulnerable to any move away from the fuel....

First Solar Inc., $48.01, symbol FSLR on Nasdaq (Shares outstanding: 100.9 million; Market cap: $5.0 billion; www.firstsolar.com), designs and manufactures modules for converting solar energy into electricity. The company makes its modules using a proprietary thin-film semiconductor technology it believes has a lower manufacturing cost per watt than traditional crystalline silicon modules. First Solar first sold shares to the public for $20 each in November 2006. Unlike many solar companies, First Solar is profitable, with forecast earnings of $3 a share this year. The stock trades at 16.0 times that estimate. The company’s balance sheet is also strong, with cash of $1.8 billion, or $17.86 a share, and just $257.8 million of long-term debt....

Taseko Mines, $0.67, symbol TKO on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 221.8 million; Market cap: $150.8 million; www.tasekomines.com), owns 75% of the Gibraltar copper-molybdenum mine in B.C. The company was also advancing the very large 100%-owned Prosperity copper-gold project in the central part of the province until November 2, 2010, when the federal government said it would block Prosperity on grounds that it would likely cause environmental damage to a pristine area. The decision was a surprise, given that the B.C. government had already approved the project. Taseko has now submitted a new environmental impact statement for Prosperity, but another ruling could take some time. Taseko’s share price now mostly reflects the value of the Gibraltar mine, with only a small chance of a positive future decision on Prosperity. The stock now trades at only 2.6 times this year’s forecast cash flow of $0.26 a share. There is also some room for expansion at Gibraltar....