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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: First Quantum Minerals Ltd. found itself with a new suitor as rumours swirled about a potential takeover by another mining giant. Shares in the Vancouver-based copper miner recently lost about half their value after the Panamanian government ordered the company to close a mine, but First Quantum’s stock price surged amid media reports that it might soon be taken over. Meanwhile, new figures showed a distinct cooling in Canada’s largest real estate markets and Tesla is no longer the top of its field.

Also: Canadians took stock of their post-pandemic financial situation, a French grocer stopped stocking a particular brand and the stock of a particular tech firm was subject to a downgrade.


1Tim Hortons is bringing back four retro doughnuts to help the chain celebrate its 60th anniversary. Which of the following nostalgic treats are among the lucky quartet chosen for a revival?
a. The Dutchie
b. The Boston Cream
c. The Orange Twist
d. The Cherry Stick

a. The Dutchie. The Dutchie, as well as the Cinnamon Sugar Twist, Blueberry Fritter and Walnut Crunch, will be available starting Jan. 10 for a limited time.

2Taking inflation into account, how are average Canadians faring compared to before the pandemic?
a. They are far worse off.
b. They are slightly worse off.
c. They are doing slightly better.
d. They are doing much better.

b. They are slightly worse off. Canadians’ real gross domestic product (GDP) per capita is lower than before the pandemic by about US$200. Canada is one of only eight (out of 38) advanced economies to see a slide in this key metric, according to the Business Council of British Columbia.

3The number of federal civil servants has grown by how much since Justin Trudeau became Prime Minister in 2015?
a. Up 11 per cent
b. Up 24 per cent
c. Up 33 per cent
d. Up 39 per cent

d. Up 39 per cent. Since 2015, the last full year of the Harper government, the number of federal civil servants has expanded by 100,213, a jump of 39 per cent.

4Tesla is no longer the world’s top-selling electric vehicle maker. In the final three months of 2023, it lost its crown to:
a. BYD of China
b. Volkswagen of Germany
c. Toyota of Japan
d. Ford of the United States

a. BYD of China. BYD of China sold 526,400 electric vehicles in the final quarter of 2023, surpassing Tesla, which delivered 484,500.

5Which big tech stock did analysts at Barclays downgrade this week?
a. Tesla
b. Apple
c. Meta Platforms
d. Microsoft

b. Apple. Analyst Tim Long explained his downgrade by pointing to lacklustre sales of the iPhone 15 and increased regulatory scrutiny of Apple’s service business.

6Renewable sources of power, including offshore wind generators, solar panels and biomass, generated how much of the electricity on Germany’s power grids last year?
a. 27 per cent
b. 42 per cent
c. 55 per cent
d. 71 per cent

c. 55 per cent. The past year was the first in which renewable sources of power generated more than half the electricity on Germany’s power grids.

7Which group has Michael O’Leary, chief executive of European budget airline Ryanair, lambasted as “scam artists”?
a. Suppliers of jet fuel
b. Airport authorities
c. Online travel agents
d. Duty free shops

c. Online travel agents. In what may not be an entirely unrelated development, several online ticket agents have suddenly stopped selling Ryanair flights.

8Which notable executive resigned this week?
a. The head of Donald Trump’s re-election campaign
b. The president of the New York Stock Exchange
c. The chief executive of Citigroup
d. The president of Harvard University

d. The president of Harvard University. Claudine Gay is the second president of an Ivy League university to resign after an appearance on Dec. 5 before a congressional hearing that probed how university administrations handled antisemitism on campus.

9How much lower were home sales in Toronto last year than in the boom year of 2021?
a. 46-per-cent lower
b. 32-per-cent lower
c. 28-per-cent lower
d. They were roughly the same

a. 46-per-cent lower. There were roughly 66,000 residential sales in Toronto last year, 46-per-cent below the record number of sales in 2021.

10A U.S. labour agency this week accused rocket maker SpaceX of firing eight employees for circulating a letter that used what phrase to describe company founder Elon Musk?
a. “A brutal and unforgiving boss”
b. “A questionable engineer”
c. “A circus sideshow”
d. “A distraction and embarrassment”

d. “A distraction and embarrassment.” The National Labor Relations Board in the U.S. alleges SpaceX violated the workers’ right to band together and ask for better working conditions.

11Carrefour, the giant French retailer, said this week it would stop carrying products from which company because of “unacceptable price increases”?
a. Nestle
b. Heinz
c. PepsiCo
d. Unilever

c. PepsiCo. Carrefour has made it a policy to challenge big consumer companies over price increases.

12Which company is said to be mulling a takeover bid for embattled Canadian copper miner First Quantum Minerals?
a. Agnico Eagle
b. Barrick Gold
c. Teck
d. Freeport-McMoRan

b. Barrick Gold. Barrick reportedly spoke to some of First Quantum’s biggest shareholders late last year to probe their interest in a potential takeover.

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