Okay, here are the answers...

Axiom Factoid Quiz


1) Between 2000 and 2007, which of the following was America’s leading export?
A) $27 billion in agricultural products
B) $800 billion in IT products and services
C) $8 trillion in steel and other metals
D) $27 trillion in debt

2) Which fact is untrue about flash trades?
A) Flash trades are another name for high-frequency trades.
B) Flash trades involve the buying and selling of hundreds of shares of stock between a market’s posted prices for that stock.
C) The Securities & Exchange Commission had implored Congress to write into the financial-reform bill language that would allow for the regulation of flash trades.
D) Flash trades account for 50% of trading volume on the NYSE and the NASDAQ.

(The actual amount of flash trades occurring on these exchanges is 66% of daily trading volume.)

3) Along with California, which other state, according to ratings agencies, is most likely to default on its obligations to debt holders?

A) Nevada
B) New Jersey
C) Louisiana
D) Florida

4) By 2013, the Gulf of Mexico is forecasted to produce…
A) 1.9 million barrels of oil per day
B) 1.9 million barrels of oil per week
C) 3 million barrels of oil per day
D) None of the above

(This is, of course, provided that the new drilling rules, to be announced today, by President Obama will not make the efforts too costly to continue.)

5) Last year was a good time for most investors in metals. Gold prices, for example, increased by 24%. By what percentage did the price of silver rise?
A) 10%
B) 25%
C) 49%
D) 100%

6) In 2007, expatriates worldwide sent a total of $350 million back to their home countries. How much of this transfer of money was sent from the United States to other nations?
A) One-third of this amount
B) Half of this amount
C) Three-fourths of this amount
D) None of the above

7) Between 2000 and 2007, how many new housing units were added per year in the state of Nevada?
A) Under 10,000
B) Approximately 16,000
C) Between 25,000 and 31,000
D) Approximately 39,000

8) Just to the southeastern corner of China’s Guangdong Province, the former Portuguese settlement of Macau has become as much an alluring, gambling destination as Las Vegas. But, unlike its American counterpart, in Macau, the average bet by gamblers is…
A) $1o – sizably lower than the average bet in Las Vegas
B) $35 – slightly higher than the average bet in Las Vegas
C) $100 – four times higher than the average bet in Las Vegas
D) None of the above

(The average bet by Macau's casino goers is $75 - three times the amount placed by Las Vegas gamblers.)

9) Historically, which of the following is not among the three busiest months of the Atlantic hurricane season?
A) September
B) October
C) July
D) August

10) The International Monetary Fund predicts that, in four years, the government debt of the United States will be, gallingly enough, 104% of the country’s annual economic output. Prior to 2009, for forty years, what was our percentage of government debt to the country’s gross domestic product?
A) It was just roughly 36% of GDP.
B) It has always been 50% of GDP.
C) It has long been around 80% of GDP.

D) It was none of the above.

(Before Ronald Reagan took office, the debt-to-GDP was below 50%. While Bill Clinton seemed to reverse the upswing in new debt, it seeems that Barrack Obama has initiated the single greatest increase in new debt since the 1940's. Click here to get a better idea of what the debt-to-GDP ratio has been since 1940.)

11) If left unchanged, when the Bush tax cuts expire at year’s end, the top tax rate on ordinary income will rise to…
A) 35.5%
B) 39.6%
C) 45.5%
D) 50%

(Today, the top tax rate on ordinary income is 35%.)

12) Which of the following statements is correct about conditions in Africa?
A) Due to climate change, 50 million Africans face starvation after 2020.
B) More than 5 million Africans still live as nomadic tribesmen.
C) Approximately 500 million Africans rely on off-the-grid sources of electricity.
D) All of the above

(Ladies and gentlemen, contrary to popular belief, there are only 100,000 bushmen left on the African continent.)

13) Depression is an affliction not readily understood, particularly in the workplace. Approximately how many men are impacted by this disease?
A) 1 in every 4 men
B) 1 in every 8 men
C) 2 in every 10 men
D) It is unknown at this time.

(One in four women are likely to suffer from depression; it is marginally less so for men.)

14) In 2008, the economic output of the entire world had a total value of $60.9 trillion. At the same time, the total market value of the financial instruments known as derivatives was how much greater than that?
A) Twice the amount of global GDP
B) Five times the amount of global GDP
C) Nine times the amount of global GDP
D) It was only the same amount of global GDP in 2008.

©2010 All rights reserved; Axiom Strategy Advisors, LLC