__It's product unveil season...__ We expected __[Microsoft](https://robinhood.com/stocks/MSFT)__ to show us new Surface tablets for your aunt's holiday wish list. We didn't expect a smart device that defies labels. The [dual-screen Surface Duo](https://www.cnet.com/news/microsoft-phone-really-happening-introducing-surface-duo/) arrives next year — Picture 2 iPhones connected book-style at the spine so they fold. We call it the "*Phonebook*." Just don't call it a phone (Microsoft hates that).

__Bill Gates' has accepted his destiny...__ The billionaire co-founder's #1 [mistake](https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/24/bill-gates-says-his-biggest-mistake-was-not-beating-google-on-android.html) was letting Android (owned by __[Alphabet](https://robinhood.com/stocks/GOOG)__) become the leader of mobile phone software. Software was Microsoft's thing (just ask [Clippy](https://www.theverge.com/2019/3/22/18276923/microsoft-clippy-microsoft-teams-stickers-removal)). Now Microsoft's new hardware runs on Android's operating system — shocking for the company defined by its historic operating system domination.

"_Speak directly into my new Microsoft phonebook_"

Invent

__Microsoft has its swagger back...__ It embarrassingly missed on smartphones the 1st time — it acquired Nokia in 2013, didn't do much with it, then [killed](https://www.theverge.com/2017/10/10/16452162/windows-phone-history-glorious-failure) its Windows phone in 2017. Since then, Microsoft's stock has grown 90% and it's now the most valuable publicly-traded company on Earth. With that confidence, it's taking on Apple and Samsung on their turf.

__PS:__ CEO Satya Nadella says this "[device](https://www.wired.com/story/microsoft-surface-duo-neo-phone/)" has two screens so you can be creative on one side, productive on the other (like a brain). 

Microsoft failed smartphones. So it invented a new Smartphone-ish foldable device.

__We know. Guac is extra...__ But __[Chipotle's](https://robinhood.com/stocks/cmg)__ too busy scaling its [newest](https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/17/chipotle-to-add-carne-asada-to-its-menus-for-a-limited-time.html) limited time menu item: carne asada (grilled beef showered in lime juice love and cilantro). It's the 1st newly-tested option since 2018's chorizo, and it arrived just before another surprise change at Chipotle.

__The Fast Food Breakfast Wars...__ Chipotle is surviving *by not fighting in it*. __Dunkin's__ got breakfast bowls, __McDonald's__ does breakfast-only donut sticks, and __Starbucks__ offers egg-white sammies. Breakfast is the new battleground because it's a daily habit that fast food hasn't satiated yet. Chipotle don't care:

- New-ish CEO Brian Niccol dropped this last week: “*We’re __not going to be doing breakfast__ anytime soon.*”
- Instead, Chipotle's focusing on the opposite of breakfast. __Dinner__. Carne asada, paired with its new drive-thru Chipotlanes and delivery, works nicely with that.

"_I saw you at Chipotle trying the carne asada, Steve_"

Chew

__This carne asada is a powerful executive statement...__ Chipotle's old CEO was opposed to new menu items — especially "limited time offers" that could disappoint diners once they get 86'd. But Brian has a different interpretation:

- __"Menu Fatigue."__ He thinks a lack of new proteins lost customers who can only barbacoa so many times.
- Chipotle's __stock has nearly doubled__ since last year as it tests out new flavors (queso, chorizo) and a loyalty program that hooks you after you try them.

Chipotle's newest menu item is actually a major strategy shift

__First rule of World Trade Organization...__ feel free to talk about World Trade Organization. The WTO is actually a 164-nation club of countries down to trade with each other in economic harmony. Here's what the WTO does for its members after they pay club dues: 

- __Set the rules:__ How should the buyers and sellers of stuff behave? Who pays for what? What taxes and fees are fair?
- __Resolve conflicts:__ If two countries aren't on speaking terms because of a trade snafu, the WTO decides who was right/wrong. Apologies ensue.
- __Ensure peace:__ Countries that trade with each other are less-likely to go to war with each other — that's the underlying purpose of the entire institution.

__The WTO just decided that the US is right...__ Europe has been busy subsidizing __[Airbus](https://robinhood.com/stocks/EADSY)__, the continent's big airplane maker. Since that's not fair to America's __[Boeing](https://robinhood.com/stocks/BA)__, the WTO OK'd the US to toss $7.5B worth of tariffs on European-made Airbus planes. __[Delta](https://robinhood.com/stocks/DAL)__, __[American](https://robinhood.com/stocks/AAL)__, and __[Alaska](https://robinhood.com/stocks/ALK)__ shares all fell because they'll pay big taxes when they next buy Airbus jets.

The World Trade Organization just stepped in

Arbitrate

__This is how trade disputes are supposed to be handled...__ Only problem: it took 15 years for the WTO to reach this decision ([literally](https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dispu_e/cases_e/ds316_e.htm#bkmk316arb)). The US immediately responded by throwing taxes on goods we import from the European Union, like jets, cheese, and Irish Scotch. Expect Europe to retaliate, as trade increasingly becomes a zero-sum game soaked in politics, not economics.

Microsoft failed smartphones. So it invented a new Smartphone-ish foldable device.

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