Efficient Markets, Mismatched Ads

First you will come to the Sirens who enchant all who come near them. If any one unwarily draws in too close and hears the singing of the Sirens, his wife and children will never welcome him home again, for they sit in a green field and warble him to death with the sweetness of their song.

The Odyssey, Book XII

I watched a documentary about the creation of index funds. It’s called Tune Out the Noise and was produced by Dimensional Fund Advisors. Along with Vanguard, Dimensional is one of the pioneers of passive investing.

The basic premise of passive investing is that markets are very hard to beat. In other words, you’re better off investing in a diversified market index fund. Trying to pick a handful of stocks that you think will outperform is a fool's errand.

It’s worth noting that Dimensional’s original team includes most of the biggest legends of modern finance (Eugene Fama, Ken French, David Booth, Rex Sinquefield, John McQuownm and later Myron Scholes, and Robert Merton). These guys effectively invented modern financial analysis and coined the efficient market hypothesis.

Meanwhile, the Youtube ads algorithm can’t help but flash ads selling financial services. Some of these are particularly cringe advertising day trading and special tools to beat the market.

I found that a little amusing.