1. In June, which company was the most valuable in Canada, with a market capitalization of $77-billion?
a) Potash Corp.
b) Research In Motion
c) EnCana
d) Royal Bank of Canada
2. Warren Buffett made some bold moves this year. Which of these
did he not do?
a) Buy $3-billion (U.S.)
of General Electric preferred shares
b) Add aggressively to his U.S. equities portfolio amid
the fall market rout
c) Invest $5-billion in Goldman Sachs
d) Bail out Iceland
3. The Canadian dollar has had a roller-coaster year. What was its value at the beginning of January?
a) 70.73 cents (U.S.)
b) 80.73 cents
c) 100.73 cents
d) 6,000 Icelandic crowns
4. Which of the following carriers did not fail in 2008?
a) ATA Airlines
b) Zoom Airlines
c) Oasis Hong Kong Airlines
d) Estonia Air
5. The mining industry was in a mergers and acquisitions mood, but there was far more wooing than wedding. Which of these proposed unions actually took place?
a) BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto
b) Teck Cominco and Fording Coal
c) Xstrata and Lonmin
d) Xstrata and Vale
6. What does 18330-424 represent?
a) Conrad Black's prison ID
b) Eliot Spitzer's account
at the Emperor's Club
c) BCE's Supreme Court filing
d) The national security order prohibiting MDA's sale
of the Canadarm
7. The U.S. auto industry was granted $17.4-billion by lawmakers recently in order to stay afloat. This is equivalent to:
a) 1.7 million Chevrolet Aveos
b) Yahoo's search business
c) Citigroup's writedown last January tied to the subprime mess
d) All of the above
8. Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska had a $1.54-billion margin call. What did he use to cover it?
a) His collection of Sarah Palin election memorabilia
b) His portfolio of 20 million Magna shares
c) His stake in OAO Norilsk Nickel
d) Iceland
9. Which Canadian bank took the most writedowns - $8.499-billion - this year?
a) CIBC
b) Royal Bank of Canada
c) Toronto-Dominion
d) Bank of Nova Scotia
e) Bank of Montreal
10. Corporate bosses were under the gun in 2008. Match the executive with the former employer:
a) Mark Foote
b) Brian Shaw
c) Rick Anderson
d) Wes Lucas
A) Quebecor World
B) CIBC
C) Loblaw
D) First Calgary
11. Who bought Washington Mutual?
a) JPMorgan Chase & Co.
b) Somali pirates
c) Bank of America
d) Citigroup
12. Jérôme Kerviel lost $7-billion (U.S.) trading in his job at Société Générale. Why?
a) He needed extra cash to pay for President Nicolas Sarkozy's wedding present.
b) He lost money on U.S. subprime mortgage investments.
c) He wanted to prove how smart he is.
d) He invested in Icelandic
commercial paper.
13. What hit a record high of $147.27 on July 11?
a) A barrel of West Texas
Intermediate crude oil
b) One RBC share
c) The cost to fill your car with gas
d) One Agrium share
14. Bailouts, we've seen a few. What has the credit crisis cost the United States so far?
a) $750-billion
b) $7-trillion
c) A Republican government
d) $1-trillion
15. Wall Street lost many venerable names this year. Which of these firms survives?
a) Bear Stearns
b) Lehman Bros.
c) Goldman Sachs
d) Merrill Lynch
16. Fraudster Rafaello Follieri lived the high life, bilking investors of millions while claiming connections to Bill Clinton and the Pope. Who was his actress girlfriend?
a) Uma Thurman
b) Anne Hathaway
c) Drew Barrymore
d) Amy Adams
17. Fund manager Bernard Madoff stunned the investment world this month when it was alleged his firm is a giant Ponzi scheme. Investors were hit by an estimated $50-billion in losses. Who wasn't a client?
a) Jeffrey Katzenberg
b) Steven Spielberg
c) Mort Zuckerman
d) Arthur Levitt
18. Match the quote with the speaker:
a) "This really is an economic Pearl Harbor. That sounds melodramatic, but I've never used that phrase before. And this really is one."
b) "All of these risks are the consequence of relying on markets built on sand. To find the bedrock on which to rebuild open continuous markets, all of us - market participants and policy makers alike - must learn the lessons of this crisis."
c) "Our balance sheet, liquidity, and capital remain strong."
d) "While I think we will come through 2008 fine, it won't necessarily feel so fine. There's a lot more adjustment still to come in financial markets."
A) David Dodge
B) Mark Carney
C) Alan Schwartz, CEO of Bear Stearns
D) Warren Buffett
19. Apple launched the first iPhone in mid-2007. From then to the end of September, 2008, by what margin has it outsold Research In Motion's BlackBerry devices worldwide?
a) 10 million
b) Too close to call
c) Just a second while I check with Google
d) RIM has outsold the iPhone by a margin of 23 million to 13 million
20. Who is the world's richest man?
a) Warren Buffett
b) Ratan Tata
c) Bill Gates
d) Carlos Slim
ANSWERS TO QUIZ
1. a)
2. d)
3. c)
4. d)
5. b)
6. a)
7. d)
8. b)
9. a)
10. a) C; b) B; c) D; d) A
11. a)
12. c)
13. a)
14. b)
15. c)
16. b)
17. d)
18. a) D; b) B; c) C; d) A
19. d)
20. a)