Hey guys. I (20m) have been pretty into investing over the past 2-3 years. I've been down rabbit holes of algo trading, various technical analyses, etc.. Recently I have come to conclusion that low expense ratio total market funds are definitively the best way to make the most money in the long run (i.e. the whole point of Bogle's philosophy). I do have a question though, about potentially beating the market:
Let's say, theoretically, you did LOTs of research in a particular industry, to the point where you could try and predict M&A deals (i.e., investing "smart money" vs "dumb money."). Let's say you get to the point where you are so good at predicting M&A deals, it's almost as if you were insider trading. Under this set of assumptions, couldn't you theoretically beat the market? Would Bogle's philosophy tell you that this is impossible / worse off in the long run?