What was Polymarket getting up to in Toronto? Take our business and investing news quiz for the week ending April 3

b, c, d. All right, Mr. Trump did not make yet another pitch for a Nobel prize. But he did leave listeners baffled about what he hopes to achieve in Iran. He threatened to destroy the country’s electrical power plants if its leaders do not make a deal with him, but he also suggested that he might simply walk away from the conflict and leave other countries to find a way to end Tehran’s blockade of oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.

a. Break out the bubbly. Or at least a six pack. The economy was “surprisingly OK” in the first couple months of the year, according to Doug Porter, chief economist at BMO. Fresh data from Statistics Canada show that real gross domestic product edged up 0.1 per cent in January and preliminary estimates suggest GDP grew another 0.2 per cent in February. No, this isn’t a boom, but the economy is doing better than many had feared.

Multiple sources say that Elon Musk’s SpaceX has confidentially filed for a U.S. initial public offering. The IPO is expected to raise between US$40-billion and US$80-billion, according to the Wall Street Journal, and it is likely to value the company at more than US$1.75-trillion. What makes the business so valuable? SpaceX puts more rockets in space than any other company. It also runs a lucrative satellite communications system. And it has huge ambitions, from constructing orbiting data centres to colonizing Mars.

a. Stellantis has proposed that it team up with its Chinese partner Leapmotor to assemble electric vehicles at its idled plant near Toronto, according to a Unifor union official. The proposal comes after Prime Minister Mark Carney agreed in January to reduce tariffs on a limited number of Chinese EVs in exchange for China lowering duties on Canadian canola and other food.

d. Mr. Rousseau joined Air Canada as finance chief in 2007. Not long after he became CEO in 2021, Mr. Rousseau made a speech to the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal that was mostly in English. Questioned by reporters after the speech, the CEO said he had managed to live in Montreal for 14 years without speaking French, and suggested he was too busy to learn the language.

a. KPMG failed to properly audit private debt manager Bridging Finance, according to the Ontario Securities Commission. In an enforcement document filed this week, the securities watchdog alleges that KPMG’s reports on Bridging Finance gave investors a “false sense of confidence” in the company, which was put under the control of a court-appointed receiver in April, 2021. KPMG said it disagrees with the OSC’s allegations, which will receive a further airing in hearings before the OSC’s Capital Markets Tribunal.

c. U.S. gas prices jumped past an average of US$4 a gallon for the first time since 2022 as the Iran war pushed fuel prices higher worldwide. The last time U.S. drivers were collectively paying this much at the pump was after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

c. EVs save drivers an estimated $3,000 a year in equivalent fuel costs. To be sure, those savings are offset in part by higher insurance costs. But with fuel prices reaching a national average of $1.78 per litre this week, it costs about 32 per cent more to fill up a gas-powered vehicle than just a month ago.

b. Nike’s stock price fell 10 per cent in the hours after executives cautioned about a darkening outlook. The company blamed unrest in the Middle East and a challenging Chinese market for its big misstep. It told investors to brace for a sharp drop in current-quarter sales and slower-than-expected progress on its turnaround.

c. Prediction markets, a fast-growing but controversial form of betting on real-world events, are gaining traction globally but face strict limitations in Canada. In 2025, the Ontario Securities Commission cracked down on Polymarket after it operated in the province for three years. The OSC reached a settlement with the operators of Polymarket prohibiting the company from “marketing or engaging in promotional activities at events that take place in Ontario.” Read the full story.

d. McCormick is combining itself with Unilever’s foods division, which includes household names such as Hellmann’s and Knorr. The combined company will use McCormick’s name but upon closing Unilever and its shareholders are expected to own 65 per cent of the food company’s outstanding equity, amounting to US$29.1-billion. Unilever would also get US$15.7-billion in cash.

b. If Kentucky can be famous for bourbon, why can’t Alberta achieve similar renown for another liquid asset? The provincial government has introduced a bill that would define “Alberta Whisky” and thereby help its distillers stand out in a competitive market.