Donald Trump gestures at the Bitcoin 2024 event in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S., July 27, 2024.Kevin Wurm/Reuters
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: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a tax holiday on a long list of items, with everything from Christmas trees to wine being exempt from the GST until Feb. 15. The holiday present for Canadians will cost the federal government roughly $1.6-billion. In addition, the government will send $250 cheques to Canadians who worked in 2023 and make up to $150,000. That money won’t show up until the spring, perhaps too late to help with holiday shopping but perfect for a down payment on a summer vacation. What might also help pay for a vacation? The stock market. How? Take our quiz to find out.
c. A banana-based art work. The piece of conceptual art, called Comedian, consists of a single banana duct-taped to a wall. It was bought by Justin Sun, founder of crypto platform TRON.
a. Bitcoin’s price is nudging US$100,000 The digital token has yet to find any clear use, but it has soared 40 per cent since Donald Trump was elected U.S. president on the theory that he will usher in a new era of crypto acceptance.
c. Ah, trick question! It’s 88 per cent lower. Lithium has plunged since EV hysteria hit a peak in 2022. Consider it a reminder that frothy markets don’t always end well.
d. By building on government land. The study estimates that underused land owned by all levels of government in major Canadian cities could provide space to house as many as a million people.
a. For their marketing practices. The bureau has obtained a court order in an investigation into whether Leon’s and its subsidiary, The Brick, engaged in deceptive marketing tactics.
d. Property taxes rose 6 per cent over the past year, the biggest increase since 1992.
b. Alberta’s public-sector pension fund manager. Who knew Mr. Harper was an expert investor? Alberta Premier Danielle Smith appointed the former prime minister as chair of Alberta Investment Management Corp. a few days after she unexpectedly fired the pension fund manager’s board and senior management. Her move has raised questions about how independent AIMCo will be in making investment decisions with its $169-billion in assets.
c. Four years. The loonie’s slide reflects the different trajectories of interest rates in the U.S. and Canada. Mr. Trump’s policies are likely to goose already vigorous U.S. growth, at least in the short term, and keep inflation and interest rates higher than they would otherwise be. In contrast, the Bank of Canada is cutting interest rates to avoid a recession.
b. Metro plans to open more discount stores to cater to Canadian consumers who have been hard hit by rising food prices. The grocer says buyers are increasingly choosing store-brand products and buying more items on sale.
b. Target. Is there a theme here? U.S. consumers are also proving to be budget conscious. Target’s stock plunged after it forecast flat sales for the holiday quarter.
a. A Quebec pension plan. The three executives used to work for Quebec-based pension-fund manager Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec. The charges allege they tried to thwart an investigation by deleting e-mails and presentations that summarized the bribes.
d. Divest its Chrome browser. In the latest stage of a continuing legal battle, the Department of Justice presented a federal judge with wide ranging proposals this week that would end Google’s effective monopoly on internet search. Google will present its own proposals in December.