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: The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a ban on TikTok, the popular social media platform, unless its China-based parent company sells its stake in the business. After the bill’s success, the Canadian government revealed it had ordered a national-security review of TikTok in September, 2023, but had not disclosed the move publicly. Meanwhile, Empire Co., the parent company of Sobey’s, reported on Thursday that its net earnings grew to $134.2-million in its third quarter ended Feb. 3, compared with $125.7-million in the same period the previous year.
Also: Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan announced a disappointing year in which its portfolio only gained 1.9 per cent, missing its internal benchmark of 8.7-per-cent benchmark by a wide margin.
a. Stocks and bonds. Canadians’ net worth climbed 1.8 per cent in the first quarter. The biggest contributors were financial assets – stocks and bonds, mostly. They jumped 5 per cent, more than offsetting a 1.9-per-cent drop in the value of residential real estate.
c. Troubles with U.S. regulators and law enforcement. TD faces penalties from U.S. authorities after a probe into gaps in its anti-money-laundering procedures. Adding to Mr. Masrani’s woes, TD also failed to close its takeover of a Tennessee–based bank.
c. April 1. That’s right – the federal government is unveiling the budget two weeks after the fiscal year starts. Critics say this leaves Parliament no time to consider the plan.
b. Indoor cameras. Airbnb had previously allowed indoor security cameras in common areas as long as the locations of the cameras were disclosed in listings.
c. Reported an annual loss. Adidas suffered after it cut ties with rapper Kanye West in 2022 and suspended sales of the highly profitable Yeezy sneaker line.
b. Wage increases of over 5 per cent. Japan is emerging from years of flat prices and slow wage growth. Workers at major companies have asked for annual increases of 5.85 per cent, the biggest jump in more than three decades.
d. Failing to disclose they had contracts with the federal government. A third case of an employee running a side-business with the government is under investigation.
a. About 70 per cent. The survey, by recruitment firm Hays, says 71 per cent of Canadian workers want to leave their jobs this year.
d. Warned of safety problems with the company’s planes. Mr. Barnett had worked for Boeing for 32 years before leaving the company in 2017. He warned of safety problems with the company’s 787 Dreamliner.
a. Steve Mnuchin. Mr. Mnuchin, who served as U.S. Treasury Secretary under Mr. Trump, said he is interested in buying the controversial social media company. The House of Representatives passed a bill this week that would ban TikTok in the United States if its China-based owner does not sell its stake.
b. Reddit, which hosts largely text-based forums divided by topics of interest, is expected to reach the stock market this month in one of the first tech IPOs of the year.
d. All the above. It is also a fine time to celebrate the joys of pizza.
Ian McGugan