Kiwi Stock Exchange Haka
The New Zealand Stock Exchange hasn’t traded all week.
It’s been targeted with repeated Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, three times, at around 11 AM each day. These are quite common, cheap and easy cyber strikes to launch, possibly even from a daring kiwi teenager at home in his pajamas (or “jarmies!”).
Commerce Minister Kris Faafoi and the Financial Markets Authority have both visited the NZX headquarters to find out what the hell is going on, but the bourse hasn’t fed much information to investors, aggravating Michael De Cesare, a portfolio manager in Auckland.
“There’s substantial new information being released to the market. New Zealand is battling a second wave of the virus, and fund managers are looking to trade more actively in response. The timing is not ideal.”
Air New Zealand reported its first annual earnings report since coronavirus on Monday, but couldn’t be traded. Investors are locked out of jumping on stocks at all-time highs, when demand is greatest. So it’s an important reminder; the stock market never has to open.
Long-term investors won’t care about this news unless their favorite NZ companies get mad and attempt to relist abroad. It’s the short-term stock flippers who find themselves in short-term trouble, held hostage in companies they don’t have a thesis for. Massive volatility at huge volumes is expected as soon as the exchange reopens (whenever that will be).
The NZX exchange operator is not unfamiliar with scrutiny, and DDoS attacks are some of the simplest to detect and defend. NZX would be very disturbed to announce a fourth consecutive day of halted trading, so it will not stop until an appropriate scapegoat is found.
I am not a financial advisor and my comments should never be taken as financial advice. Investments come with risk, so always do your research and analysis beforehand.
