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Welcome to The Globe and Mail’s business and investing news quiz. Each week, join us 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.

Take our quiz below to test your recall for the week ending July 14.


1 On Wednesday the Bank of Canada raised its benchmark interest rate to 5 per cent. How many years has it been since rates were this high? (Hint: The top single at the time in Canada was U2′s Walk On.)
a. 16 years
b. 18 years
c. 22 years
d. 24 years

c. 22 years The central bank’s policy rate hasn’t been this high since April, 2001

2 Within the first five days after Meta launched its new social media app Threads, how many people signed up? (Not necessarily using it, mind you - just signed up.)
a. 50 million
b. 75 million
c. 100 million
d. 125 million

c. 100 million Meta Platforms Inc., which owns Facebook and Instagram, signed up 100 million users for Threads in its bid to provide an alternative to Twitter.

3 Three Canadian crypto trading companies are merging in a deal that closes on Monday. What are their names?
a. WonderCoin, Coinify and Coinsmart
b. Wonderfi, Coinsmart and Coinsquare
c. Binance, Coinsmart and WonderCoin
d. Coin.ly, Wonderfi and Coinsquare

b. Wonderfi, Coinsmart and Coinsquare The company first announced its merger with CoinSmart Financial Inc. and Coinsquare Ltd. in April and WonderFi is set to ring the TSX opening bell on Monday to mark the deal’s completion.

4 Laurentian Bank of Canada put itself on the auction block this week. As Canada’s 8th largest bank, roughly how many branches does it have?
a. 40
b. 60
c. 130
d. 300

b. 60 Laurentian has 57 branches. The next smallest bank is National Bank of Canada, with roughly 380 branches.

5 Beyoncé kicked off the North American leg of her latest tour in Toronto last weekend to a sold-out Rogers Centre crowd, a reminder that high inflation and interest rates aren’t stopping concert goers. How much has household spending on recreation and culture grown compared with before the pandemic?
a. 5 per cent
b. 13 per cent
c. 21 per cent
d. 33 per cent

c. 21 per cent In the first quarter of 2023 households spending on recreation and culture was 21 per cent higher than the average level in the two years leading up to the pandemic.

6 A Calgary company signed a deal with Adidas that will produce running shoes embedded with:
a. Hemp
b. Recycled oil sands truck tires
c. CO2
d. AI technology that it’s claimed can boost a runner’s speed by up to 10 per cent.

c. CO2 Carbon Upcycling Technologies captures carbon-dioxide emissions from a natural-gas fired power plant to produce carbon-embedded ink that Adidas will use to produce 400,000 pairs of runners.

7 High interest rates mean the monthly cost to finance a large pickup truck now stands at what?
a. $500
b. $750
c. $1,000
d. $1,300

c. $1,000 The average monthly cost for financing a large pickup truck — the second-largest retail vehicle segment in Canada — is $1,000, according to analysis by J.D. Power.


8 What is the asking price for this house? This ground floor suite, located just north of the Distillery District, was constructed with loft-like features, such as 10-foot ceilings, polished concrete flooring and multipaned windows. The one-bedroom-plus-den includes a huge, 255-square-foot terrace.
a. $719,000
b. $219,000
c. $1,719,000
d. $645,000

a. $719,000 The unit was sold after just nine days on the market.

9 What is the lowest available insured variable mortgage rate this week?
a. 4.79
b. 5.19
c. 5.65
d. 5.90

c. 5.90 The lowest nationally available insured variable-rate mortgage as of July 13 was 5.90 per cent, according to columnist Robert McLister. Meanwhile, HSBC offered a 6.40 rate for uninsured variable-rate mortgages.

10 What is the biggest risks of investing in real estate?
a. Real estate is illiquid;
b. Tenants can damage the property;
c. There are no risks. It’s always a solid bet.

a. Real estate is illiquid; Among other risks and challenges, buying or selling an investment property takes time. Read more

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