Biz Quiz 2007 | The year in business

QUESTIONS

Wild rides

The Dow Jones industrial average made such big swings this past year that a move up or down several hundred points in one session no longer became big news. Many local companies also took investors on breathtaking journeys.

1) This company's shares hit an 11-year low.

A) Nordstrom

B) Starbucks

C) Washington Mutual

2) Microsoft stock shot up 9.5 percent, one of its biggest days ever and to a six-year high, after the company announced:

A) It would give away a free Zune with every purchase of Windows Vista.

B) First-quarter profit rose 23 percent.

C) The dividend would be doubled.

Haunted housing market

3) Seattle was an island in the bubble, one of the last metropolitan areas in the nation to feel the housing slump. By last month, the price of a single-family house in King County had:

A) Dropped four months in a row.

B) Dropped to the same price level as a year earlier.

C) Was still more than twice the median price of a home in King County a decade ago.

Magic mirror

4) Which Northwest company changed its name to "TrueBlue" and why?

A) Fitness-equipment maker Nautilus, to "reflect the predominant color scheme of the company's machines."

B) Online jeweler Blue Nile, to "convey the purity and desirability of diamonds."

C) Labor Ready, to "bring focus to our vision to be the leading provider of blue-collar staffing."

D) Trubion Pharmaceuticals, to "address difficulties in correctly pronouncing the company's name."

Step right up and say something

Match the quote with the person who said it:

5) "Some people even call our stores sterile, cookie cutter, no longer reflecting the passion our partners feel ... "

6) "This, frankly, may be one of the best times I've ever seen for taking on new loans into our portfolio."

7) "This is the best time to be looking for work."

A) Kerry Killinger, Washington Mutual chief executive

B) Evelina Tainer, Washington's chief labor economist

C) Howard Schultz, Starbucks chairman

Pick-a-name

Match the news with the newsmaker. (Correctly answered bonus questions count as extra points tacked on at the end of the quiz.)

8) Who led development of the Boeing 787 but was replaced after Boeing announced that the first plane wouldn't be delivered until 2008, six months behind schedule?

Bonus question: Who replaced this person?

9) Who merged a local craft brewery with a Portland competitor?

Bonus question: What will the new company be called?

10) What Port of Seattle commissioner signed a memo approving extra postretirement payments to former Chief Executive Mic Dinsmore, equal to his $339,841 salary, touching off a firestorm of protest that killed the deal?

Bonus question: Who is the new Port chief executive?

Concession stand

11) There was a lot of talk in 2007 about the possibility of inflation reigniting next year, but some things didn't wait to get more expensive.

Which of the following rose the most?

A) Gold

B) Unleaded gas

C) Google stock

ANSWERS

1, 2) Wild rides

C) Washington Mutual: Stock in all three companies took a hit in 2007, but Washington Mutual dropped to 1996 levels Dec. 19 (and even lower after that) due to losses from the growing subprime-mortgage mess and the subsequent slashing of its dividend.

B) First-quarter results: Unexpectedly strong first-quarter figures — profit up 23 percent and revenues up 27 percent — helped boost Microsoft shares out of its relative doldrums Oct. 26 and reach a six-year high of $35.03 (which it later surpassed), adding $28.9 billion to its market value.

3) Haunted housing market

A, B and C): The median price of a single-family house in King County last month was $435,000, down from $481,000 in July, about the same as a year before, but up 138 percent from the 1997 figure of $183,000.

4) Magic mirror

C) Labor Ready: The name change by the Tacoma company, which provides temps to the construction industry, won kudos from branding expert Andy Valvur, who called it "very American-sounding, hard-working, apple pie." But he noted it's also the name of JetBlue's mileage program.

5, 6, 7) Step right up and

say something

Match the quote with the person who said it.

C) Howard Schultz

In a Feb. 14 memo to top executives that said "Some people even call our stores sterile, cookie cutter, no longer reflecting the passion our partners feel... " the Starbucks chairman also said that some decisions created "stores that no longer have the soul of the past."

A) Kerry Killinger

At an investors conference Sept. 10 in New York, the Washington Mutual chief executive discussed the company's strategy to increase its mortgage portfolio and gain market share by saying: "This, frankly, may be one of the best times I've ever seen for taking on new loans into our portfolio." By December, a battered WaMu announced it was laying off nearly 3,300 of its 50,000 workers and slashing its quarterly dividend from 56 cents a share to 15 cents a share.

B) Evelina Tainer

When the state of Washington released its unemployment rate for April, the 4.6 percent figure tied the record set in November 1999 during the high-tech boom, prompting the state's chief labor economist to say: "This is the best time to be looking for work."

8, 9, 10) Pick-A-Name

Match the news with the newsmaker.

8) Mike Bair led the development of the Boeing 787. Pat Shanahan replaced him.

9) Paul Shipman, the CEO of Redhook Ale Brewery of Woodinville, agreed to merge the company with Portland-based Widmer Brothers Brewing, which will become the Craft Brewers Alliance and one of the largest craft brewers in the nation.

10) Port of Seattle commissioner Pat Davis signed a memo approving extra postretirement payments to former Chief Executive Mic Dinsmore, equal to his $339,841 salary, sparking a protest that killed the deal. The Port's new CEO is Tay Yoshitani.

11) Concession stand

C) Google stock finished the year up 52.6 percent to $702.53. Gold climbed 32.2 percent to $839.60 an ounce and hit a 28-year high of $845.40 early last month. The average price for a gallon of gas (regular) in the Seattle area was up 15.9 percent to $3.129 as oil prices flirted with $100 per barrel.

Scoring

8-11: You've hit a 52-week high.

5-7: Your stock is rising.

2-4: Your options are underwater.

0-1: Time for a reverse stock split.