1. Chart of the Day (above) shows some of the results of the latest “SPIVA U.S. Scorecard” with mid-year financial performance data through June 30 of this year. Since its first publication 17 years ago, the SPIVA Scorecard has served as the de facto scorekeeper of the active versus passive investing debate. Here’s the key finding of the mid-year SPIVA report:

• Over the most recent 15-year investment period from June 30, 2004 to June 30, 2019 roughly 90% of professional fund managers (89.83% for large-cap, 90.33% for mid-cap nd 90.25% for small-cap) failed to outperform their benchmarks on a relative basis (see table above).

MP: For most investors, the ability to invest in low-cost (almost free), passive, unmanaged index funds and outperform 90% of highly-paid, high-fee, professional active fund managers seems like a no-brainer, especially considering investing in index funds requires no research or time trying to find the active managers who maybe have beaten the market in the past and might do so in the future.

2. New Trend Guessing Game Quiz from Olivier Ballou of oil production over time in Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, North Dakota, Texas, US, and Russia.

3. Who’d a-Thunk It I? Raising the minimum wage means fewer restaurants and jobs? “That’s one recipe the American people could do without,” writes Mike Saltsman and it’s one recipe that’s perfectly predictable. Except in the political fantasy world of “political wage setting.”

4. Who’d a-Thunk It II? Starbucks Visits Declined Nearly 7% After Switching to an Open Bathroom Policy?

5. West Coast Progressive Crazziness I. Facing objections, Seattle’s Sound Transit drops ‘Red Line’ as the name for its sole light-rail corridor because citizens said it evokes redlining. The decision distinguishes Seattle from cities whose transit maps include a Red Line, including Washington, DC.

6. West Coast Progressive Craziness II. Nearby, Portland’s TriMet Transit System ending its ad campaign intended as a “friendly reminder” for riders to pay fares and address double-digit rates of fare evasion, citing negative reactions. #DefiningDeviancyDown

7. Another University Ignoring Title IX’s Prohibition of Sex Discrimination. From the student paper at the University of Minnesota: “In an effort to create a comfortable space for women to work out, the University of Minnesota’s Recreation and Wellness Center is piloting a women-only gym space.”

Reminder to my alma mater that Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 says that “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” And the University of Minnesota’s own policy states that it will “provide equal access to and opportunity in its programs, facilities, and employment without regard to gender.” I’ve asked the University of Minnesota’s Title IX coordinator to review its civil rights violation and make the necessary corrections.

8. The American Dream Factory is Still Open. According to a new study from researchers at Princeton, Stanford, and UC-Davis, the children of recent immigrants are moving up the economic ladder in the USA today just like the children of European immigrants 100 years ago. Summary/press release here and here’s the full NBER paper “Intergenerational Mobility of Immigrants in the US over Two Centuries.”

9. Quotation of the Day is from Groucho Marx:

Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.

10. Video of the Day (below) is from John Stossel on how bad laws have casued the homeless crisis.

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