Peace Beats War
Peace-Related Stocks Top War-Related Stocks

Washington, DC -- March 14, 2003 -- With war on everybody's mind, it may come as a surprise that stock market investors are leaning towards peace.  According to Keck's Index, the stocks of 10 publicly traded companies dealing in non-violent products are doing better than those of 14 companies that deal in war-related products.   

The Peace Index features equity funds that embrace non-violence, along with other companies that include non-violence in their mission statements or produce peace-related products.  Children's book company, Scholastic, is included, as is the maker of Sleepy Time Tea and the parent company for Ben & Jerry's Peace Pops.  The stocks are tracked from a September 10 baseline.

In the year following the 9/11 attacks on the US, war-related stocks were up 8%, versus a 1.6% downturn for peace stocks.  But that trend has now reversed, with War Index stocks down 24% compared to Peace Index stocks' 14% loss.  Both lag behind the S&P 500, which is down only 8% since Sept. 10, 2002 (although that index is calculated slightly differently).

"Whether you're a hawk or a dove," Index creator Gayle Keck says,  "it's interesting to watch the skirmishes in the market."