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How many offices in Toronto’s financial district are vacant? Take our business and investing news quiz

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How many offices in Toronto’s financial district are vacant? Take our business and investing news quiz

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: Earning season rolls merrily along! Canadian Tire Corp. Ltd. reported that traffic to its stores fell slightly in the first quarter ended March 30. The retailer’s revenue fell by 4.9 per cent in the quarter compared with the prior year, to $3.5-billion. Meanwhile, Telus Corp. reported that operating revenues and other income for the quarter totalled $4.93-billion, down from $4.96-billion in the first quarter of 2023. And Quebecor Inc. reported revenue totalling $1.36-billion for the quarter, up from $1.12-billion in the first quarter of 2023. The hike came partly from the company’s acquisition of Freedom Mobile in April 2023.

Also: Shopify Inc. reported its results as well – and shareholders had feelings.

1Which company set off a storm of outrage this week with a “shockingly bad” commercial that featured a massive compressor crushing musical instruments and works of art?

a. OpenAI

b. Spotify

c. Apple

d. Red Bull

c. Apple set off a furious reaction with its ad for the new thinner iPad. Viewers apparently did not appreciate the sight of creative tools being crushed by a giant machine. Imagine that.

2Remember when the pandemic looked as if it would sink the cruise business? That was then, this is now. Royal Caribbean Group said this week it is ramping up to meet surging demand for seaborne getaways. How many workers does the cruise operator plan to hire this year?

a. 2,000

b. 5,000

c. 10,000

d. 20,000

c. 10,000. Royal Caribbean said it will hire around 10,000 workers this year. The number of people taking cruises hit a record in 2023.

3What is true of Greg Abel, the executive in line to succeed famed investor Warren Buffett as head of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.?

a. He was born and raised in Edmonton.

b. He is related to Sid Abel, the Hall of Fame hockey player.

c. He has an accounting degree from the University of Alberta.

d. All the above

d. All of the above. Mr. Abel was born and raised in Edmonton and graduated from the University of Alberta. He is related to the hockey great.

4General Motors announced this week that it would stop making an iconic vehicle. Which one is it?

a. Chevrolet Camaro

b. Chevrolet Malibu

c. Chevrolet Corvette

d. Chevrolet Suburban

b. Chevrolet Malibu. GM is saying goodbye to the Chevy Malibu after selling more than 10 million of them since the car was introduced in 1964. The decision is intended to free up manufacturing room for an updated version of the Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicle.

5Toronto is one of the few Canadian cities where office vacancies are still on the rise. What percentage of the city’s financial district is available to lease?

a. 5 per cent

b. 9 per cent

c. 15 per cent

d. 17 per cent

6Why are federal civil servants vowing protests and a “summer of discontent”?

a. They are upset about a new rule that requires them to be in the office at least three days a week.

b. They are angry about salary increases that lag inflation.

c. They are rebelling against new rules that will force them to work past 55.

d. They object to new rules against federal employees doing consulting work for other federal agencies.

a. A new rule requiring them to be in the office at least three days a week. Chris Aylward, national president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, said federal workers will be taking to the streets to protest a new rule that says they must be in the office at least three days a week. Previously, two to three days had been the standard.

7FTX, the cryptocurrency exchange that imploded spectacularly two years ago, said this week that customers would get back:

a. About half of what they are owed

b. About three quarters of what they are owed

c. Everything they are owed

d. A big fat zero

c. Everything they are owed. FTX said in a court filing that nearly all its customers will receive what they are owed and some will get even more.

8It was a bad week for Shopify. The Ottawa-based e-commerce technology company saw its shares plunge Wednesday after:

a. Announcing the departure of a key executive

b. Forecasting lower-than-expected revenue and profit margins

c. Revealing its revenue barely grew in the first quarter

d. Announcing a hiring freeze

b. Forecasting lower-than-expected revenue and profit margins. Shopify’s revenue bounded ahead by double digits in its first fiscal quarter. However, its shares plummeted after it forecast lower-than-expected revenue growth and profit margins in the next quarter.

9It was a sad week for Hudson’s Bay Co. The retailer announced that after 55 years of operation it would be closing its store in:

a. Regina

b. Saskatoon

c. Edmonton

d. Winnipeg

a. Regina. The Regina store will close next year and leave Canada’s oldest retailer with just one store in Saskatchewan, in Saskatoon.

10What do Canadian banks have to get better at, according to the head of Canada’s banking regulator?

a. Steering small investors to the most effective products

b. Curbing money laundering crimes

c. Promoting women to executive roles

d. Protecting their businesses from climate-related risks

b. Curbing money laundering crimes. Peter Routledge, superintendent of the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, told journalists that “it is incumbent upon regulators and boards of directors to redouble efforts on surveillance detection and response. I’m confident, but am I satisfied with where we are? No, we have to get better.”

11You want to talk about cozy monopolies? Canada Post has once again hiked the cost to send a letter in Canada. Which raises the question: How did the postal service do last year?

a. It made about $250-million

b. It made about $750-million

c. It lost about $250-million

d. It lost about $750-million

12Yes, investment bankers are well paid. No, they don’t have a lot of time to enjoy it. According to a recent survey by Financial News, 30 per cent of junior bankers said they were working more than:

a. 81 hours a week

b. 75 hours a week

c. 70 hours a week

d. 65 hours a week

a. 81 hours a week. Yes, 81 hours a week is bad. But it doesn’t stop there, with 14 per cent of junior bankers surveyed by FN saying they routinely clock more than 90 hours a week.

How well did you do?

Answer all of the questions to see your result

This wasn’t your week, but that’s okay! We’ll be back next Friday with another business and investing quiz, subscribe to our Top Business Headlines newsletter to prepare.

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