In what has become an almost daily affair in recent weeks, the PureFunds ISE Cyber Security ETF (NYSEArca: HACK) is hitting record highs again Thursday and doing so on strong volume.
HACK, the first exchange traded fund dedicated to the cyber security industry, is up 1% today on volume that is already 36% above the daily average. As has been the case with HACK over its brief trading history (the ETF debuted in November), the catalysts for Thursday upside are easy to identify.
Namely, a Bloomberg article detailing J.P. Morgan Chase’s (NYSE: JPM) commitment to bolstering its cyber security through increased spending and hiring of former military members. The bank was victimized by a cyber security breach in June 2014.
Given HACK’s penchant for responding favorably to such news items (see the controversy surrounding “The Interview” and the ETF’s reaction to the recent Anthem Blue Cross hack), it is not a stretch to say that if HACK was around in June, it would have soared in the days following news of the J.P. Morgan hack. [Anthem Hack Lifts Cyber Security ETF]
HACK did not exist in June 2014, but J.P. Morgan is having a favorable impact on the ETF. In October 2014, J.P. Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon said the banking giant will likely double its cyber security spending to $500 million within the next five years.
Important to HACK, Dimon is making good on that promise. J.P. Morgan’s security operation has 1,000 staffers, double the size of the comparable unit at Google (NasdaqGS: GOOG), according to Bloomberg. Add to that, J.P. Morgan is far from the only major financial services that is expected to increase cyber security spending in the coming years.