Test your wits with our quiz
1. In a Which? magazine blind taste test of champagnes by experienced champagne tasters, Moet & Chandon’s Brut NV, priced at £30.99, received a score of 74%. But which of the following champagnes received the highest score of 85%?
a. Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label Brut NV (£34.49)
b. Lanson Black Label (£31.99)
c. Morrisons Brut NV (£19.99)
2. Which of the following has been the best performing stock in the US Dow 30 so far this year?
a. McDonalds
b. Bank of America
c. IBM
3. What has been the best performing currency in the world against the US dollar so far this year?
a. Peruvian sol
b. Australian dollar
c. South African rand
4. Greece’s gross debt as a share of GDP is 165% and the interest rate on 10-year Greek government bonds is 36%. Japan’s debt to GDP ratio is far higher than Greece at 233%. What is the interest rate on 10-year Japanese bonds?
a. 50%
b. 1%
c. 8%
5. Which of the following companies has been the best performing stock in the UK FTSE 100 so far this year?
a. Arm Holdings (chip designer)
b. Autonomy Corporation (software company)
c. Lloyds Banking Group
6. Below are five major asset classes and the returns a UK investor would have made by investing in them from the start of 2011. Match the return to the asset class.
Asset classes Returns
a. Energy 1. -6%
b. UK equities 2. 7%
c. UK corporate bonds 3. 23%
d. Gold 4. 15%
e. UK government bonds 5. 11%
7. The recently published Thomson Reuters report, “The World’s Top 100 Innovators” ranks firms by a complex mix of parameters to assess the amount of intellectual property they generate. 40 of the top 100 firms are from the US. But which European nation has the most firms in the top 100?
a. Germany
b. Switzerland
c. France
8. In which of the following countries would someone earning $100,000 a year pay the most in income tax and employee social security contributions?
a. Denmark
b. Belgium
c. Greece
9. In the 12 months to October UK CPI inflation rose by 5%. But there were significant differences in rates of inflation for different goods and services. The price of which of the following products has risen by 13% over the last year?
a. Coffee, tea & cocoa
b. Gas
c. Fish
10. China’s current GDP per person is forecast to double in seven years and South Korea’s in 14 years. How long will it take for US GDP per person to double?
a. 17 years
b. 6 years
c. 24 years
11. In which country are gambling losses per adult highest?
a. Singapore
b. USA
c. Australia
12. Which of the following countries has the largest number of dollar millionaires per 1,000 people?
a. Japan
b. USA
c. Switzerland
See below for answers. Also, visit morningwire.eu for further insights on the answers.