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 in business and investing: Global financial markets rallied after some good news from the U.S. Federal Reserve. Newly released national home sales numbers were less cheery, marking the fifth consecutive months of decline. And the COP28 climate summit came to an end with an agreement to reduce the world’s reliance on fossil fuels.
Meanwhile: Dollarama’s sales numbers went up, a toy company’s employee ranks went down, and Netflix finally shared some actual numbers.
Do you remember these stories? Take our quiz below to test your recall for the week ending Dec. 15
1Which company’s entire council of Indigenous advisers resigned this week?
a. Royal Bank of Canada
b. Bell Canada
c. TC Energy
d. Canadian National Railway
2Netflix, which has been criticized by content creators for its lack of transparency, is finally revealing the total number of hours that viewers spend watching their favourite shows. In a report this week, the streaming service declared that its No. 1 worldwide hit between January and June was:
a. The Night Agent, Season 1
b. Friends, Season 2
c. Outer Banks, Season 3
d. La Reina del Sur, Season 3
a. The Night Agent, Season 1. Viewers worldwide spent a collective total of 92,705 years watching the thriller.
3A committee of Britain’s House of Commons heaped praise on Canada for being “at the head of the pack” for:
a. Industrial policy
b. Immigration policy
c. Cybersecurity
d. Financial crime reporting
c. Cybersecurity. A five-year study by the British House of Commons intelligence and security committee praises Canada’s electronic spy agency but says Canada risks being seen as a “weak link” by its allies if it does not move swiftly to mitigate economic security threats.
4Canada is also a leader when it comes to household debt. The debt service ratio, which measures how much of a typical household’s disposable income is going to pay back loans and cover interest payments, is now at its highest level since:
a. Records began in 1990
b. The 1995 Quebec referendum
c. The 2008 financial crisis
d. The start of the pandemic
a. Records began in 1990. The record level of debt stress is likely to climb even higher as more homeowners renew their mortgages at higher interest rates.
5The Canadian Dental Care Plan, which will help uninsured Canadians afford dental care, begins rolling out this month. According to the federal government, how many Canadians do not currently have access to dental care?
a. 12 million
b. 9 million
c. 6 million
d. 3 million
b. 9 million. The initial rollout of the plan is aimed at seniors at the age of 87 and older.
6Where’s Santa when you need him? A renowned toy maker said this week it is cutting 20 per cent of its work force. The company facing tough times is:
a. Mattel
b. Hasbro
c. Lego
d. Fisher-Price
7McDonald’s is testing a new U.S. restaurant concept, its first in more than 60 years. The space-themed prototype store specializes in beverages and is called:
a. McBlast
b. McCool’s
c. CosMc
d. Ronald’s
c. CosMc. The first CosMc opened in a Chicago suburb this month. Ten additional locations in Texas are planned for early 2024, according to The Wall Street Journal.
8Which fashion company pulled a controversial ad from its website this week after pro-Palestine activists called for a boycott of the retailer?
a. Uniqlo
b. Zara
c. Gap
d. H&M Group
b. Zara. The advertisement featured mannequins that were missing limbs and statues wrapped in a white shroud.
9New Argentine President Javier Milei administered a dose of shock therapy to his nation’s economy this week. Of the following measures, which was the only one he did not implement?
a. He slashed the peso’s exchange rate against the U.S. dollar.
b. He chopped public spending.
c. He cut the number of government ministries in half.
d. He closed down Argentina’s central bank.
10Accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers LLC has agreed to pay $1.45-millon to an Ontario regulator to settle charges that:
a. Its employees cheated on internal training programs
b. It inaccurately calculated foreign-exchange values
c. It failed to encourage diversity in its work force
d. It was guilty of political bias
a. Its employees cheated on internal training programs. PwC discovered the cheating and notified CPA Ontario, the provincial regulator of chartered professional accountants, in April, 2020.
11As Canadians look for shelter from inflation, Dollarama’s sales are jumping. How many net new stores has the discount retailer opened this fiscal year?
d. 55. Dollarama has increased sales by a double-digit percentage for six consecutive quarters.
12The U.S. Federal Reserve cheered markets this week by signalling interest rate cuts are in the works. How many rate cuts are likely in 2024, according to forecasts from central bank officials?
a. One
b. Two
c. Three
d. Four
How well did you do?
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Ian McGugan