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: Lynx Air shut down on Sunday after receiving court protection from creditors. It owes $25-million in taxes to the federal government and millions more to suppliers, according to documents filed in an Edmonton court. There was better news for the Canadian economy as a whole. Real gross domestic product rose at an annualized pace of 1 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2023, rebounding from a decline of 0.5 per cent in the third quarter, according to numbers released by Statistics Canada on Thursday. And five of Canada’s six big banks reported earnings that beat analyst estimates, with only Bank of Montreal missing the mark.
Also: A fast-food chain found itself in a pickle, Apple put a major project on ice and a cereal executive found himself in a jam.
b. 60 per cent. A letter from an 11-member coalition of consumer groups estimates that “consumers who accepted lowball offers settled for 60 per cent” of the compensation amount recommended by the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments.
c. Self-driving electric cars. Apple appears to have concluded that AI is a more promising area than electric vehicles.
a. Wendy’s. The chain insists it was never planning to raise prices at the busiest times of the day. Instead, it says it was planning to offer discounts at slower times of the day. We’re still pondering that distinction.
d. Deal with high food prices by having cereal for dinner. Mr. Pilnick told CNBC interviewers that cereal has always been affordable and is “a great destination when consumers are under pressure.” His comments struck many as insensitive and quickly drew comparison to Marie Antoinette’s famous advice to “let them eat cake.”
c. 2016. Canada’s economic performance looks even weaker after accounting for the strongest population growth in decades.
d. Around US$60,000. The cryptocurrency gained more than 40 per cent in February. Its price jumped after U.S. regulators approved the launch of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds earlier this year.
d. Sam Mizrahi is embroiled in a dispute with Constantine Enterprises, co-founded by Edward Rogers and Robert Hiscox. Constantine wants a judge to appoint receivers for two condo projects it co-owns with Mr. Mizrahi, but Mr. Mizrahi says the request is “predatorial.”
b. 35 per cent. Aviation fees make up 35 per cent of an average Canadian air ticket, according to the Montreal Economic Institute. The fees apply to all airlines, but hurt discount carriers the most because the lower the base fare, the higher the percentage of the ticket price represented by the charges.
c. Uranium prices have soared amid supply disruptions and growing interest in nuclear power.
a. Solar power generators. Alberta is banning all types of renewable-energy projects from private property the government considers to have excellent or good irrigation capability unless the project proves it can co-exist with crops or livestock. Fossil-fuel projects don’t face the same restrictions.
b. Corn, wheat and soybeans. Bumper harvests in Brazil and Russia are prompting speculators to increase their bets that corn, wheat and soybean prices will fall. The bearish outlook shows how completely sentiment has reversed since 2022 when crop prices soared after Russia invaded Ukraine.
a. Beyond Meat is still losing money but cheered investors with its ability to maintain sales in non-U.S. markets and its plans to cut costs.
Ian McGugan