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: Many people start the new year with a hangover from too much exuberance the night before. But for investors, the previous year’s partying came with little consequences. The S&P 500 notched a 23.3-per-cent gain in 2024, marking its best two-year run in quite some time. And while stocks were down a bit as the calendar turned, it was hard to deny the remarkable run of the past 365 days. And it was just stocks that soared, with price spikes in many commodities. But how closely were you watching the markets last year – and have you paid any attention to the early days of 2025? Take our quiz to find out.
1Investors partied in 2024, but some partied harder than others. Which of these stock market indexes had the best return for the year?
a. Canada’s S&P/TSX Composite
b. The S&P 500 index of large U.S. companies
c. The Dow Jones industrial average of 30 prominent U.S. companies
d. The tech-heavy Nasdaq index
d. The tech-heavy Nasdaq index. Just about everyone who bought Canadian or U.S. stocks in 2024 made out splendidly, but those who purchased technology stocks – especially big U.S. tech stocks – enjoyed the biggest hauls. The Nasdaq index, home to many of those tech stocks, gained a remarkable 28.6 per cent. Mind you, the consolation prizes weren’t so bad: The S&P 500 was up 23.3 per cent during the year, the S&P/TSX Composite 18.5 per cent and the Dow Jones 12.9 per cent.
2The smart money predicted an economic slowdown in the United States and moderate stock market gains in 2024, but reality turned out rather differently. How many record closes did the S&P 500 index notch during the year?
a. 57. In an emphatic demonstration of why market predictions should be treated with the same respect you give astrology, the U.S. economy didn’t slow in 2024, and the stock market boomed. Record closes became a ho-hum event.
3The S&P 500 index, the most widely followed market benchmark in the world, has performed superbly over the past two years, gaining 23.3 per cent in 2024 and 24.2 per cent in 2023. How does this two-year winning streak compare to other two-year periods in the index’s history?
a. It’s the best performance since 2000
b. It’s the best performance since 1990
c. It’s the best performance since 1980
d. It’s the best performance since 1970
a. It’s the best performance since 2000. The past two years have been the best this century. You have to go back to 1997 and 1998 to find a better two-year streak. Just remember, hot streaks are often followed by cold patches: After the big gains of 1995 to 1999, the S&P 500 slid for three straight years.
4Some physical commodities enjoyed banner years in 2024. Which of these products soared the most in price?
a. Gold
b. Cocoa
c. Coffee
d. Copper
b. Cocoa. Chocolate lovers, beware. The price of your favourite treat may be going up. Unusually dry weather has meant dismal cocoa harvests in African nations such as Ivory Coast and Ghana. The upshot? Cocoa prices nearly tripled in price over 2024.
5To be sure, not all assets thrived in 2024. Canada’s telecom stocks, for instance, had a generally miserable year thanks to higher interest rates, increased competition and a distinct lack of love from regulators in Ottawa. Which of these stocks was the biggest loser?
a. Telus
b. BCE
c. Rogers Communications
d. Cogeco Communications
b. BCE, parent of Bell Canada, saw its stock price slide 38 per cent in 2024 and is feeling pressure to cut its dividend to conserve cash. Telus (down 18 per cent) and Rogers Communications (down 29 per cent) were also hammered, although Cogeco Communications (up 12 per cent) managed to be a rare bright spot in the sector.
6“The halving” was a big event for some investors in 2024. What does it refer to?
a. A loosening of margin requirements for buying stocks
b. A slide in the price of computing power
c. A decline in growth rates for EV ownership
d. A fall in the rate of bitcoin issuance
d. A fall in the rate of bitcoin issuance. A halving is mandated in bitcoin code and takes place every four years. It cuts the incentives awarded to bitcoin miners in half and therefore puts artificial pressure on new bitcoin supply. So was the most recent halving in April, 2024 a big factor in the doubling of bitcoin’s price this year? Probably not. The introduction of spot bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. this year and the election of crypto-friend Donald Trump appeared to matter more. Still, it helped.
7Canada’s mortgage rules changed on Dec. 15. Under the old rules, the minimum down payment on a $1-million home was $200,000. What is the minimum down payment under the new rules?
a. $50,000
b. $75,000
c. $100,000
d. $150,000
b. $75,000. Ottawa says it wants to encourage young buyers to get into the housing market. Under the new rules, buyers must put down only 5 per cent of the first $500,000 of a home’s purchase price and only 10 per cent of the portion between $500,000 and $1.5-million. So on a $1-million home that works out to a down payment of only $75,000.
8Which star athlete recently listed his real estate investment trust on the stock market?
a. Sidney Crosby
b. Patrick Mahomes
c. Lionel Messi
d. Wayne Gretzky
c. Lionel Messi. Edificio Rostower Socimi, the Argentinian soccer superstar’s real estate empire, made its Spanish market debut in December. It owns several European hotels, apartments and offices and had an initial market value of 223 million euros ($331-million).
9What topic has sparked an online fight between U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s “first buddy” Elon Musk and many Trump supporters?
a. Mr. Musk’s dream of human colonies on Mars
b. Safety laws for artificial intelligence (AI) projects
c. Mr. Musk’s vow to cut US$2-trillion from government spending
d. Visas for skilled workers
d. Visas for skilled workers. Mr. Musk, who spent more than a quarter-billion dollars to help elect Mr. Trump, is now feuding with many Trump supporters over H-1B visas, which allow U.S. employers to hire highly skilled foreign workers. Mr. Musk, who was born in South Africa, is a big fan of the visas, while many Trump supporters oppose them because they allow foreign workers into the U.S. market. In an obscene rant on X, Mr. Musk warned H-1B critics to back down: “I will go to war on this issue the likes of which you cannot comprehend.”
10Speaking of Mr. Musk, what did his car company Tesla announce this week?
a. Its first annual profit
b. Its first under-US$40,000 car
c. Its first annual decline in sales
d. Its first cryptocurrency
c. Tesla saw its first annual decline in sales in 2024. It delivered 1.79 million vehicles, down 1.1 per cent from the previous year. Analysts blamed the decline on tougher competition from China, reduced European subsidies and a shift in the United States toward cheaper hybrid vehicles. It’s possible that Mr. Musk’s political adventures didn’t help, either.
11Why is Canada facing “the most serious threat to its sovereignty and prosperity since the Second World War,” according to a group of prominent Canadian foreign policy experts?
a. Political interference from China
b. Climate change
c. Donald Trump’s trade agenda
d. Slowing productivity growth
c. Donald Trump’s trade agenda. The U.S. president-elect’s willingness to use trade as a weapon threatens Canada’s independence, according to a statement by the Expert Group on Canada-U.S. Relations.
12Manufacturing activity in Canada increased at its fastest pace in two years in December. Why were Canadian factories humming?
a. The threat of U.S. tariffs
b. Increased orders from Europe
c. A Christmas spending binge by Canadian households
d. The GST holiday
a. The threat of U.S. tariffs. The S&P Global Canada Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index surged in December, probably because threatens Canada’s independence, to avoid the threat of tariffs. U.S. president-elect Donald Trump has promised to impose a 25-per-cent levy on all imports from Canada after he assumes office on Jan. 20.
Answer all of the questions to see your result
