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: Things aren’t so relaxed in the world of athleisure as Lululemon sues another retailer accusing it of making cheap copycats of the Vancouver-based giant’s products. Meanwhile, a company that built an empire selling cheaper alternatives is also facing big changes. But which companies are in trouble, and why? Take our quiz and find out.
1Vancouver-based Lululemon is suing which retailer for offering “dupes” of some of its popular athleisure apparel?
a. Walmart
b. Target
c. Costco
d. Amazon
2The first shipload of liquified natural gas from the new LNG Canada terminal left British Columbia this week bound for Asia. It is a notable moment for Canada’s energy sector – but it’s a moment that has taken longer to achieve than anyone would have expected. When did LNG Canada receive its export licence?
a. 2005
b. 2013
c. 2018
d. 2020
b. 2013. LNG Canada received its export licence in 2013 and started building its facility in Kitimat, B.C., in 2018.
3Prime Minister Mark Carney raised eyebrows when he announced a few days ago that he was dropping Canada’s digital services tax in an attempt to restart trade talks with the United States. The first payment on the now-defunct tax was due this week and would have dinged global tech giants for about how much in total?
a. US$500-million
b. US$1-billion
c. US$2-billion
d. US$5-billion
c. US$2-billion. The tax was a 3-per-cent levy on revenue collected by digital firms from their Canadian users, and the first payment would have been retroactive to 2022. It would have cost U.S. companies such as Amazon, Google and Uber a collective US$2-billion or so.
4U.S. President Donald Trump lashed out again this week, lambasting one of his favourite targets for being “too late” and costing the United States a fortune. Who was the target of his tirade?
a. Tesla chief Elon Musk
b. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell
c. Former U.S. president Joe Biden
d. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky
b. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Ah, what a great boss Mr. Trump is. He told Mr. Powell that he had failed and declared that the U.S. should be paying interest rates of 1 per cent or less on its debt rather than the current 4.25 per cent. What the President didn’t explain was how such rock-bottom rates are appropriate for an economy facing inflationary pressure from his own tariffs.
5Which industry group is the U.S. Congress probing for allegedly fixing prices?
a. Telecom companies
b. Cancer clinics
c. Major league baseball teams
d. Ivy League colleges
d. Ivy League colleges. The House Judiciary Committee is examining whether Ivy League schools collude in fixing tuition rates. The probe seems to be part of a larger agenda. Mr. Trump and other Republicans have condemned many of the country’s premier universities as being too “woke.”
6What did auto company chief executives urge Prime Minister Mark Carney to do this week?
a. Repeal the government’s zero-emission targets
b. Offer low-interest loans to Canadian manufacturers
c. Improve the country’s charging network for electric vehicles
d. Pick up the tab for new technology in auto plants
a. Repeal the government’s zero-emission targets. Automakers say sales of electric vehicles are waning in Canada and it will be impossible to meet next year’s targets for sales of zero-emission vehicles.
7Donald Trump and his allies are hinting that they might revoke the U.S. citizenship of some foreign-born notables. Who is the latest person mentioned as a potential target?
a. Alphabet co-founder Sergey Brin
b. Tesla chief Elon Musk
c. U.S. Senator Ted Cruz
d. New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani
d. New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. Mr. Trump and his allies hinted this week that they could revoke the U.S. citizenship of Mr. Musk, who was born in South Africa, and later added Mr. Mamdani, who was born in Uganda. However, Mr. Cruz (born in Canada) and Mr. Brin (born in Russia) appear to be safe.
8Let’s talk about big tech: Which prominent company announced this week it was laying off 9,000 workers?
a. Microsoft
b. Amazon
c. Apple
d. Tesla
a. Microsoft. This is the third layoff at Microsoft this year. In May, it sacked 6,000 workers.
9Let’s talk some more about big tech: According to figures published this week, how did Tesla’s car sales for the second quarter compare with its numbers a year ago?
a. They were flat
b. They were up, but only slightly
c. They were down, but only slightly
d. They were down more than 10 per cent
d. They were down more than 10 per cent. Mr. Musk said in April that Tesla’s car sales were turning around, but there is no evidence of that in the latest figures. The company’s second-quarter car sales were 13.5 per cent lower than they were a year ago.
10The British pound dipped and British government bonds sank after Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s chaotic performance this week. At one point, his Chancellor of the Exchequer – the person in charge of the country’s finances – was in tears during a session of parliament. What caused her emotion?
a. A key bill failed to pass
b. A withering report from the International Monetary Fund
c. Accusations of impropriety
d. The Prime Minister’s lack of support
d. The Prime Minister’s lack of support. Mr. Starmer’s shambolic first year as Britain’s Prime Minister hit a new low this week when he had to gut his welfare-reform bill to stave off a rebellion by his own MPs, then followed that up by reducing Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves to tears when he sidestepped questions about whether he would replace her.
11Why was canned fruit giant Del Monte Foods in the news this week?
a. It is launching a new line of cactus treats
b. It is opening a new plant in Halifax
c. It is declaring bankruptcy
d. It is trying to acquire Beyond Meat
c. It is declaring bankruptcy. The 139-year-old company is struggling as consumers move away from preservative-laden canned fruits and vegetables.
12Why did Bombardier stock hit a seven-year high this week?
a. A large order for new planes
b. A change of senior executives
c. Victory in a class-action lawsuit
d. Speculation it may be an acquisition target
a. A large order for new planes. Bombardier said an unnamed customer has signed a US$1.7-billion deal for new planes and services.
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