Welcome to The Globe and Mail’s business and investing news quiz. Join us each week to test your knowledge of the stories making headlines. Our business reporters come up with the questions, and you can show us what you know.
This week: Tariffs continue to ravage Canadian markets and industries, seeping into our grocery and liquor stores and even our interest rates and vacations. But how have U.S. President Donald Trump’s own finances fared since he took office? Take our quiz and find out.
1Loblaw said this week it will start to put a “T” symbol on some of its grocery products. What does the symbol indicate?
a. Products affected by tax increases
b. Products that are high in trans fats
c. Products with terrific customer ratings
d. Products affected by tariffs
d. Products affected by tariffs. Loblaw will put the new symbol – a “T” inside a black triangle – on products that are going up in price because of tariffs.
2British Columbia Premier David Eby said this week that government liquor stores in the province will remove all American beer, wine and other alcoholic beverages from their shelves. What has Mr. Eby done personally to express his displeasure with U.S. tariffs?
a. Cancelled plans to visit Disneyland in California
b. Sold his U.S.-made Ford SUV
c. Dumped U.S. stocks from his personal portfolio
d. Stopped drinking Coca-Cola products
a. Cancelled plans to visit Disneyland in California. Mr. Eby said his family of five cancelled their trip despite having spent $1,000 on tickets before the trade war started.
3Hudson’s Bay, Canada’s oldest retailer, has filed for creditor protection. It is working on a restructuring plan that could keep open how many of its 80 stores?
d. 40. The company, founded in 1670, is asking its landlords for financial assistance to help it keep roughly half its 80 stores open.
4Southwest Airlines announced this week that it is ending one of its best-known and best-loved features. After 54 years, it is saying goodbye to:
a. Open seating
b. Free checked bags
c. Its policy of allowing passengers to change flights without paying a fee
d. Its point-to-point route system
b. Free checked bags. It’s a sad moment for Southwest, the U.S. airline once renowned for its high-spirited, maverick ways. It announced this week that its “bags fly free” policy will end as of May 28. It had previously announced it was doing away with open seating as of early 2026 and would start to use assigned seating, just like other airlines.
5How much has U.S. President Donald Trump made on the meme coins he launched just before he took office in January, according to an analysis by the Financial Times?
a. Nothing
b. US$50-million
c. US$350-million
d. US$500-million
c. US$350-million. The North American economy may be sputtering as a result of Mr. Trump’s policies, but the President’s personal finances are doing just fine, thank you. The Financial Times estimates he made at least US$350-million from the launch of his meme coin, a digital token with no practical use – other than to funnel anonymous donations to the President. Critics say the meme coin is a disturbing example of how Mr. Trump is using his office to enrich himself.
6At times like this, you almost have to feel sorry for central bankers. On the one hand, there is a case for lowering interest rates to help support a Canadian economy under siege from U.S. tariffs. On the other hand, there is a case for keeping interest rates high to restrain inflationary pressures from U.S. tariffs. So what did the Bank of Canada decide to do with its key interest rate this week?
a. It raised the rate by a quarter of a percentage point
b. It raised the rate by half a percentage point
c. It lowered the rate by a quarter of a percentage point
d. It lowered the rate by half a percentage point
c. It lowered the rate by a quarter of a percentage point. The central bank cut its key interest rate for the seventh consecutive time, lowering its benchmark policy rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 2.75 per cent.
7Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and “first buddy” to U.S. President Donald Trump, has been encountering a marked lack of success in his efforts to wring big savings out of the U.S. federal government bureaucracy. Meanwhile, what has happened to the stock price of his flagship company, Tesla?
a. It is down more than 30 per cent this year
b. It is up more than 30 per cent this year
c. It is down about 10 per cent this year
d. It is up about 10 per cent this year
a. It is down more than 30 per cent this year. Tesla’s share price slid 38 per cent from the start of January to the middle of this week.
8Northvolt AB, a Swedish maker of batteries for electric vehicles, grabbed headlines a couple of years ago when it announced plans to build a $7-billion megafactory outside Montreal. What did Northvolt announce this week?
a. It has been acquired by BYD of China
b. It has filed for bankruptcy
c. It has pushed back the planned opening of the Quebec factory
d. It has made a major breakthrough with sodium-ion batteries
b. Northvolt has filed for bankruptcy in Sweden, raising serious doubts about the viability of the Quebec factory, which was billed as the largest private-sector investment in the province's history when it was announced two years ago.
9Harry Culham will take over as chief executive officer of which Canadian bank in October?
a. Bank of Nova Scotia
b. Royal Bank of Canada
c. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
d. National Bank of Canada
c. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. Mr. Culham will step into the top job at CIBC when Victor Dodig retires at the end of October.
10Lip-Bu Tan was named chief executive officer of an iconic U.S. company this week. Which one?
a. Intel
b. BlackBerry
c. Peloton
d. AT&T
a. Intel. The struggling chip maker's shares jumped this week when it named Mr. Tan, a former board member, as its new chief executive.
11Public Sector Pension Investment Board, which manages the retirement savings of many Canadian public-sector workers, made its largest-ever investment in Canada this week. It is buying a stake in:
a. A Vancouver AI developer
b. An Ontario highway
c. A Quebec-based lender
d. An East Coast power generator
b. An Ontario highway. PSP Investments is buying part of Ontario’s Highway 407, a toll road that runs from Burlington to Oshawa. At least someone will benefit from all that rush-hour traffic.
12What is the common link between the Royal English Breakfast Latte and the White Hot Chocolate on Starbucks’ U.S. menu?
a. Both had their names changed because of cultural sensitivities
b. Both form part of the chain’s new imperial breakfast menu
c. Both raised the ire of nutritionists because they contain more than 500 calories
d. Both were discontinued as the chain tries to simplify its menu
d. Both were discontinued as the chain tries to simplify its menu. Since Brian Niccol took over as Starbucks chief executive officer six months ago, he has attempted to streamline the chain’s sprawling offerings. He has already cut 13 drinks from the company’s U.S. menu and wants to cut 30 per cent of food and drink options from the U.S. menu by the fall.
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