Savvy Investors Pumped By Cicadas' Return

Transcript

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

And our last word in business today is the cicada index.

Every 17 years, these nasty, loud, little insects known as Brood 2 cicadas emerge in staggering numbers - as many as 1 billion per square mile, from the Carolinas to Connecticut.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

They have a grinding song. They have an endless appetite for vegetation, and most people along the East Coast dread their arrival. But savvy investors know better.

GREENE: A Wall Street Journal analysis going back to 1928, shows that the year the cicadas return, the stock market has grown, on average, by 21 percent - that's double the historical average. And that's not that bad.

INSKEEP: And the cicada effect seems to be holding true. The market from 2013 so far, is up almost 12 percent.

That's the business news on MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep.

GREENE: And I'm David Greene.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.