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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: Numbers showed inflation in the U.S. eased last month, raising hope the Federal Reserve could be closer to cutting its benchmark interest rate. Consumer prices excluding volatile food and energy costs – the closely watched “core” index – rose 0.2 per cent from April to May, down from 0.3 per cent the previous month.

One company seemingly receiving a boost from inflation is Dollarama Inc., which saw profits jump by 20 per cent in its first quarter. As customers look for relief from high prices, the company is also seeing surging demand in other markets. It announced on Wednesday that it has increased its stake in Latin American retailer Dollarcity.


1National Bank of Canada has offered to buy Canadian Western Bank for $5-billion in stock. How have National Bank shares performed over the past five years?
a. They have done better than any other Big Six bank
b. They have done worse than any other Big Six bank
c. They have flat lined
d. They have doubled

a. They have done better than any other Big Six bank. National Bank was the best performing Big Six bank stock over the past five years. Over that period, its share price rose 78 per cent and its total return was top among big Canadian lenders.

2Copperleaf Technologies, a Vancouver-based software developer, announced this week that it had:
a. acquired a Swedish company for $1-billion
b. been acquired by a Swedish company for $1-billion
c. gone private
d. delisted its stock

b. Been acquired by a Swedish company for $1-billion. Copperleaf agreed to a $1-billion takeover by IFS AB of Sweden.

3Toronto-based Roots Corp. said this week it lost money in its most recent quarter because of:
a. A fleece shortage
b. Unseasonably warm weather
c. An anti-leather campaign by animal rights activists
d. A change in celebrity endorsers

a. A fleece shortage. Roots said it did not have enough supply of some fleece products to meet demand.

4Bill Gross, the famed bond market investor, is expected to make upwards of US$15-million this week when he auctions off his collection of:
a. Fine French wines
b. Historic Chinese art
c. Rare U.S. stamps
d. Ancient Greek coins

c. Rare U.S. stamps. Mr. Gross told the Financial Times the market for collectible stamps is poised for a correction because it is no longer supported by a base of kids pursuing the hobby.

5Elliott Investment Management, the big U.S. investor known for deposing chief executives and shaking up companies, has taken a US$2-billion position in:
a. United Airlines
b. Hewlett Packard Enterprise
c. Barrick Gold
d. Southwest Airlines

d. Southwest Airlines. Elliott wants to replace Southwest’s chief executive and start a comprehensive review of the airline’s business. Southwest’s share price has plunged over the past three years.

6Frank Stronach, the founder of Canadian auto parts maker Magna International, has been arrested and charged with five offences, including rape and forcible confinement. Mr. Stronach is or has been:
a. An Austrian politician
b. An operator of thoroughbred racetracks
c. A member of the Order of Canada
d. All the above

d. All the above. Mr. Stronach, 91, was made a member of the Order of Canada in 1999 in recognition of his success in building Magna. He later turned his hand to both Austrian politics and thoroughbred horse racing. He denies the allegations against him.

7What did the International Monetary Fund recently warn the United States about?
a. Its rising taxes
b. Its rising debt
c. Its rising interest rates
d. Its rising inequality

b. Its rising debt. Gita Gopinath, the fund’s first deputy managing director, urged the United States to shrink its mounting fiscal burden by reducing its spending or raising taxes.

8The investors behind the new Texas Stock Exchange are signaling that their proposed market will:
a. Offer better execution than the New York Stock Exchange
b. Focus on oil and gas companies
c. Offer relief from “woke” do-gooders
d. Use cryptocurrencies

c. Offer relief from “woke” do-gooders. The new exchange is backed by BlackRock and Citadel Securities among others and aims to open in 2026. While it says it is apolitical, it has indicated it will avoid setting rules, as Nasdaq does, on such “woke” issues as board diversity.

9Why did Mexican stocks slide in recent days?
a. Election results
b. A major corporate scandal
c. New outbreaks of cartel violence
d. An earthquake in Chiapas

a. Election results. The landslide election of Claudia Sheinbaum, the left-leaning candidate of the country’s ruling party, has shaken investors’ confidence. The scale of the victory feeds fear that the new government will have few limits on its power.

10Alberta has finally shut down its infamous “war room.” What was the war room set up to do?
a. Plan Alberta’s secession from Canada
b. Attract foreign investors to the oil patch
c. Defend the province’s energy industry
d. Attack Ottawa’s pandemic policies

c. Defend the province’s energy industry. The Alberta government set up the war room in 2019 to push back against environmentalists, journalists and anyone else it deemed to be spreading “lies” about Canadian energy. The war room, which was set up as a private corporation but funded with public money, will now be rolled into Alberta’s Intergovernmental Relations Ministry.

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