Not that the PureFunds ISE Cyber Security ETF (NYSEArca: HACK) has had many down days in recent weeks, but it would not be surprising to see the red hot fund race its way to another new high Friday on the back of more glum cyber security news.
After the close of U.S. markets Thursday, the Associated Press reported that J. David Cox, president of the American Federal of Government Employees, the union for government workers, said in a letter to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) that hackers stole personnel data and Social Security numbers for every federal staffer.
News of the government data hack was reported on June 4. The following day, HACK hit an all-time high. HACK was quiet in Thursday’s after-hours session after rising 0.22% on nearly double the average daily volume during regular trading hours and touched another new high. The ETF is up 8.7% over the past month.
HACK’s denizens of fans know that in the ETF’s short lifespan (the fund debuted in November), what is bad news in the world of cyber security often proves to be good news for HACK’s price action. The ETF has proven as much on multiple occasions and has done as recently as Wednesday after data out of the U.K. showed cost of dealing with online data breaches there has more than doubled over the past year. [New Highs for Cyber Security ETF]
Earlier this week, it was reported that HACK could get some competition by way of the First Trust NASDAQ CEA Cybersecurity ETF, which has not come to market.