Welcome to The Globe and Mail’s business and investing news quiz. Join us each week to test your knowledge of the stories making the headlines. Our business reporters come up with the questions, and you can show us what you know.
This week: MTY Food Group reported its second-quarter profit fell 10 per cent compared with 2023 as its sales slowed. The restaurant franchisor and operator reported $27.3-million in net income attributable to owners, compared with a profit of $30.4-million at the same point last year. The Montreal-based company operates more than 90 brands, including Country Style, Cultures, Baton Rouge and Wetzel’s Pretzels.
And speaking of twists, Royal Bank of Canada announced on Thursday that it was splitting up its largest revenue-generating engine by turning the personal and commercial divisions into standalone teams. The changes suggested that the bank is looking to test various members of its executive team as replacements for CEO Dave McKay, who has been in charge for a decade.
1Costco said this week it will increase its annual membership fee in September. How long has it been since the last increase?
a. One year
b. Three years
c. Five years
d. Seven years
2Why was Conrad Black, the Canadian-born financier and former media magnate, removed this week as a member of Britain’s House of Lords?
a. Poor attendance
b. His outspoken admiration for Donald Trump
c. His change of residence
d. His outspoken criticism of the Labour party
3A U.S private-equity firm acquired Quebec-based Héroux-Devtek this week in a transaction valued at $1.35-billion. What does Héroux-Devtek do?
a. It makes AI-based search-and-rescue software
b. It makes satellites
c. It makes landing gear
d. It makes restaurant equipment
4Toronto-based Brookfield Asset Management said this week it is contemplating a possible bid for:
a. A Spanish drug maker
b. A French water utility
c. A German auto parts maker
d. A British retailer
a. A Spanish drug maker. Brookfield is teaming up with the family behind drug maker Grifols SA to explore a possible bid for the Spanish company.
5Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, this week won the dismissal of a US$500-million severance lawsuit that had been filed by fired workers at:
a. Tesla
b. SpaceX
c. Twitter
d. The Boring Company
c. Twitter. The case is one of many alleging Mr. Musk reneged on promises to former Twitter workers.
6Why was airplane maker Boeing in headlines this week?
a. Another one of its planes malfunctioned
b. It agreed to plead guilty to a charge of conspiring to defraud the U.S. government
c. Its sales jumped
d. It fired its chief executive
b. It agreed to plead guilty to a charge of conspiring to defraud the U.S. government. The airplane maker has been reeling from one disaster to another, including the fatal crashes of two planes and an accident in which a door plug blew out of another plane shortly after takeoff, leaving a gaping hole in the fuselage.
7The Canadian Chamber of Commerce this week appointed Candace Laing as its new president, the group’s first new leader in 17 years. Where did Ms. Laing previously work?
a. The Bank of Canada
b. Fertilizer giant Nutrien
c. Software powerhouse Shopify
d. Auto parts maker Magna
b. Fertilizer giant Nutrien. Ms. Laing worked for a decade at Nutrien as chief human resources officer and vice-president of sustainability and stakeholder relations.
8Tensions are reportedly growing between senior officials in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland. Internal discussions have mulled the possibility of recruiting whom to replace Ms. Freeland?
a. Former finance minister Bill Morneau
b. Royal Bank chief executive David McKay
c. Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem
d. Former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney
d. Former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney. There are no indications a shuffle is imminent, but sources say some senior officials within the Prime Minister’s Office are growing concerned that Ms. Freeland has not been able to effectively sell the government’s economic policies to an increasingly disenchanted public.
9Quebec used to generate vast amounts of surplus electricity. But revised projections show that at current levels of supply its surplus power will run out by:
a. 2027
b. 2030
c. 2032
d. 2035
10Strathcona Resources, a Canadian oil sands company, and Canada Growth Fund, an arm’s-length investment vehicle of the federal government, this week announced a $2-billion partnership to:
a. Produce hydrogen
b. Explore new ways to ship natural gas
c. Build a new refinery
d. Develop carbon capture facilities
d. Develop carbon capture facilities. The carbon capture infrastructure will be built at oil sands operations belonging to Strathcona in northern Alberta and Saskatchewan.
11Taiga Motors makes electric snowmobiles. What did the Montreal-based company do this week?
a. It unveiled a new line of personal watercraft
b. It announced a partnership with Tesla
c. It won bankruptcy protection
d. It went public
c. It won bankruptcy protection. The company had paused production in April and is now seeking new investors.
12Global markets were cheered this week by the announcement that consumer price inflation in the United States dipped in June to an annual rate of:
a. 2 per cent
b. 3 per cent
c. 4 per cent
d. 5 per cent
b. 3 per cent It was the third month in a row that U.S. inflation receded. The steady decline raises hopes that inflation is fading back to the Federal Reserve’s 2 per cent target and increases the probability that the world’s most powerful central bank will soon start cutting interest rates.
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