US and Tech Powerplayers Welcome China & Home Depot’s Impressive 45-Year ROI

SPEAKER_1 (0:01)

This episode is brought to you by Google Chrome. You think you know a browser, but Gemini and Chrome, that's new. It can help you with practically anything on the web, like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a 50-page restoration block, or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks. Gemini and Chrome is here for it. Ready to make anything online make sense? There's no place like Chrome. Check responses set up required, compatibility and availability varies 18 plus.

Neal Freyman (0:27)

Good Morning Brew Daily show. I'm Neal Freyman.

Toby Howell (0:30)

And I'm Toby Howell.

Neal Freyman (0:31)

Today, the best performing stock in the last 45 years will surprise you.

Toby Howell (0:35)

Then what is force majeure and why did Oracle decide it for a data center? It's building. It's Friday, September 25th. Let's ride.

Neal Freyman (0:49)

Fall definitely announced its arrival this week. The wind is blowing, jackets are out and the sunsets are creeping ever earlier. One of the best ways to warm up is to hang out with us at Trivia. Next Tuesday evening, we're running back our monthly Bar Trivia Night in Manhattan, where Toby and I will write a bunch of questions. Yes, we actually write them ourselves to sump you and your friends. It's a ton of fun. Bring your coworkers, meet other listeners, and us. What's not to like?

Toby Howell (1:15)

Let's warm the brains up then with a little Trivia, just as a teaser.

Here's my Trivia question. Only two actors have ever portrayed Wolverine, the X-Men character, on screen. One is Hugh Jackman. Who is the other? One more time, only two actors have ever played the Wolverine on screen in a movie, Hugh Jackman and one other. We will let you know the answer at the end of the show, and make sure to sign up for Trivia if you want to participate.

Neal Freyman (1:40)

Link in the show notes. All right, now a word from our sponsor, Roku Ads Manager. Toby, when you think of things that only take a few minutes, what comes to mind?

Toby Howell (1:50)

Making a coffee, reading an article, getting ready for a run.

Neal Freyman (1:53)

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Toby Howell (2:01)

And to make it even easier, Roku has a feature where you can use your brand's existing videos to create ads.

Neal Freyman (2:06)

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Toby Howell (2:11)

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Neal Freyman (2:25)

The leaders of the world's two great superpowers met in Washington, DC yesterday in a summit big on pageantry, but small on results. The only actual deal worked out was for a transfer of pandas. Upon arriving at the White House yesterday morning, his first visit to Washington in over a decade, Chinese president Xi Jinping and his wife were received with a red carpet welcome, a military flyover and in the evening, a state dinner that was the hottest ticket in town. Last week, Trump said he told a lot of very good friends that quote, you just can't come because it was so in demand. Xi and Trump had a lot of nice things to say to each other, like two pals meeting up after a long period away. After meeting Xi at the airport Wednesday, Trump wrote online, he looks strong, vibrant and fit better than ever. Xi, for his part, told Trump, I am ready to work with you to steer the giant ship of China-U.S. relations on a steady course toward that future. To that end, he announced he would send two pandas to the Atlanta Zoo, which is how China shows geopolitical camaraderie. But camaraderie is not how anyone would describe these two countries' relationship, where beneath the photo ops, handshakes and compliments lies a heated rivalry. The US and China are locked in an arms race to develop artificial intelligence, granting the winner not only technological superiority, but military dominance. Adding to the tensions, China has been economically supporting Iran, which the US is at war with. The US is selling weapons to Taiwan, which China has designs on controlling, and trade tensions continue to simmer. But of course, you wouldn't really know that from the way Trump literally rolled out the red carpet for Xi yesterday.

Toby Howell (3:53)

Yeah, a lot of the word I saw thrown around was diplotainment instead of diplomacy, where it was very big on just the pomp and circumstance of the entire visit. One of the biggest quotes that was going around is during their meeting, Trump gave Xi a tour of the new helipad he constructed on the White House South Lawn. He goes, he loves a good granite. So that was the big takeaway from the evening. Not the biggest takeaway, but it just goes to show you that they were very chummy and were just kind of palling about for the most part. What actually got done? You could point to the fact that the trade war truce was extended by two months. It was previously set to expire on November 10th. Now it expires on January 10th.