Nike Ducks Tariffs, Canada Jabs U.S. Tech, and LBJ Punches the Fed Chair

In Episode 13 of The Capital Call, Quinn and Drew dig into a market-moving mix of index reshuffles, trade spats, and monetary lunacy. First up: the Russell 2000 reconstitution, where 28 new names are getting added and billions in capital are about to blindly shift—all because someone updated a spreadsheet.

Then it’s on to Canada’s new digital services tax, which has Trump furious because, let’s be honest, it’s mostly aimed at U.S. tech giants. What follows? Vague threats, tariff teasers, and a surprisingly teachable moment about trade deficits, VAT systems, and why retaliating against your neighbor with electricity leverage is a bad idea.

Meanwhile, Nike jumps 16% despite falling margins—because Wall Street now celebrates “less bad than feared.” Turns out, offshoring production to places other than China costs money. Who knew?

On the macro side, the Q1 GDP revision goes from bad to worse (now -0.5%), but don’t worry—most of the damage is from companies panic-buying inventory ahead of tariffs. Expect that sugar crash in Q3. Russia, for its part, is holding bond auctions where the banks buying the debt can’t afford it, and sometimes just ghost the trade entirely. Makes you miss First Republic, huh?

And in This Day in Economic History: the U.S. narrowly avoids a Depression-era banking supernova when a real estate speculator turned banker creates a circular lending disaster, Chicago loses its mind (and parking meters), and LBJ physically assaults the Fed Chair to get lower interest rates. Oh, and the Japanese yen was born… in San Francisco.

Markets may be irrational, but at least they’re never boring.

Welcome to the next episode of the Capital Call: with the Millegan Brothers, managing partners of the Woodworth Contrarian Fund with a new episode released every Monday morning at 2 AM Eastern / 5 AM Pacific.

DEEP ROOTS. STUBBORN GROWTH. OREGON BASED.

Episode Breakdown:

(00:00) Welcome to Episode 13: One Mic, No Regrets

(00:46) Buffett’s Big Bet & Our Contrarian Webinar Recap

(02:00) Russell 2000 Rebalance: $200B of Passive Panic

(03:51) Canada’s Digital Tax: Trudeau Body-Slams Big Tech

(05:49) Trump’s Trade Tantrum: Retaliation in 7 Business Days

(07:43) Congress Hacks the Emissions Rule With a Single Zero

(08:34) USMCA Drama: Canada Powers the Grid, and the Beef

(10:19) GDP Revised Downward: Panic Not Yet Priced In

(12:59) Nike’s Meh Earnings = Stock Moonshot? Wall Street Math

(16:24) LBJ vs. the Fed: When Fiscal Policy Gets Physical

(18:28) Turkey’s 42% Bond Yields: Now With Extra Inflation

(20:31) Russia’s Bonds Are a Lie (And Banks Can’t Afford Them)

(27:46) Russia Won’t Declare War Because That Triggers Conscription

(30:28) Canada Trade War: Hopefully Not Nuclear, Eh?

(31:05) This Day in Econ History: Bank Fraud, Silver Crashes & Nuclear Poetry

Topics include:
Russell 2000 reconstitution, passive fund flows, index reshuffling, Canada digital services tax, U.S.-Canada trade dispute, Trump tariffs, NAFTA tension, Q1 GDP revision, import-export imbalance, Nike earnings, supply chain shift, China manufacturing, tariff impact, margin compression, Turkey bond yields, inflation tax, variable-rate bonds, Russian debt crisis, central bank manipulation, LBJ Fed pressure, interest rate politics, fiat currency, Chicago bank collapse, silver crash, Great Depression panic, postal savings, FDIC origins, Route 66, nuclear power, first ATM, Atari founding, Korean War economics.

Quinn Millegan:⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.linkedin.com/in/quinnmillegan⁠⁠⁠⁠

Drew Millegan:⁠ ⁠⁠⁠www.linkedin.com/in/drew-millegan⁠⁠⁠⁠

The Millegan Memo (monthly newsletter):⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.woodworth.fund/news/tag/The+Millegan+Memo⁠⁠⁠⁠

Woodworth Contrarian Fund:⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.Woodworth.Fund

⁠⁠⁠⁠Capital Call:⁠ ⁠⁠⁠CapitalCall.Stream

⁠⁠⁠⁠Inquiries: [e-mail]

Capital Call #13 with Quinn Millegan & Drew Millegan, managers of the Woodworth Contrarian Fund.