Last Friday, SpaceX rang the opening bell at the Nasdaq.
Ticker: SPCX.
IPO price: $135 a share.
By end of day, it had closed at $161, up 19% in a single session, raising $75 billion in what is now officially the largest IPO in history.
And if your social media feed looks anything like mine right now, everyone seems to be saying the same thing:
"FUUUUUK, I missed out."
Here's what I want you to know: you probably didn't.
And more importantly, even if you DID get shares at $135, it wouldn't mean much if you've still got $800/month bleeding out in credit card interest.
Let me explain.
There are basically three levels of investor.
Level 1: Debt-first.
This is where a lot of people are, and there's no shame in it.
If you've got high-interest debt: credit cards, personal loans, anything north of 7-8%...
Every dollar you put into the market is running uphill.
The average credit card APR right now is around 20-22% though, so SpaceX popping 19% on day one sounds great, until you remember your Visa is charging you that every single year, automatically, guaranteed.
The move at Level 1 isn't to invest.
It's to kill the debt fast enough that you actually have money left over to start deploying.
I say it all the gotdamn time on the show, and while it's not the most popular take on investor TikTok, it's the right one.
Level 2: Foundation first.
Once the high-interest debt is gone, Level 2 is building the boring stuff: an emergency fund, maxing your 401k match (free money bby), and low-cost index funds.
The S&P 500 has averaged around 10% annually over the last century.
Not exciting.
Not a good story at parties.
But compounding in the background while you sleep the sound sleep of someone who's not blowing an aneurysm over options.
Level 3: Individual stocks and big swings.
This is where SpaceX lives.
Single-company bets, IPOs, and high-conviction plays are all fine, but only after Levels 1 and 2 are solid.
Not because SpaceX is a bad investment per-se, but because betting on one company with money you haven't fully secured is just gambling in disguise.
As long as you're in the right ETFs, SpaceX will be included in the spread.
If investing isn't your job, let's focus on the basics, 'kay pumpkin?
Did you actually miss out?
SpaceX priced at $135, opened at $150, and hit $176 intraday before settling at $161. That's a strong debut, no question.
But consider where the company was already valued before any of us regular people could buy a share: private investors had been marking this up for years.
The IPO valued SpaceX at roughly $1.75 trillion. And by close of day one, the market cap had crossed $2 trillion, making it the sixth-largest publicly traded company in the United States.
That's not the cheap phase.
The "ground floor" was back when Musk was still refusing to take it public and insiders were buying in the hundreds of millions.
The people who made generational money on SpaceX were employees and early-stage investors who got in when it was a startup operating out of a converted aircraft hangar in El Segundo. That window closed a long time ago.
That doesn't mean it's a bad investment now. It might be a good one, even a GREAT one.
But the "I missed the rocket" narrative is mostly FOMO talking.
The counterpoint worth considering.
Here's where I'll push back on myself: SpaceX is not a normal company.
Starlink (the satellite internet division) is the part of the company generating real revenue in markets that have never had reliable internet access.
The launch business has fundamentally changed what it costs to get to orbit, while the company just merged with xAI, Musk's artificial intelligence venture, folding some of the most ambitious AI development on the planet under the same roof.
If you believe in the long-term future of satellite internet, commercial space infrastructure, and AI-driven defense and data contracts, SpaceX has a legitimate long-term case.
The analysts covering it have price targets ranging from $63 all the way to $227, which tells you one thing clearly: nobody actually knows.
And that's the honest truth about individual stocks.
You're making a bet on a future that nobody can see clearly.
Which is exactly why most serious investors say single-company positions should be a small slice of your portfolio, not the whole pie.
So what do you actually do?
If you're in debt right now: the SpaceX IPO was never your move.
Move on, pay off the debt, and build your foundation.
Then revisit this when you have real money to invest, instead of staring at your piggy bank like a punching bag.
If you're debt-free with a solid base: a small SPCX position could make sense as part of a diversified portfolio.
Not your whole ass retirement! A position.
If you're already investing: you already know all this.
You're just here for the commentary.
The point isn't that you missed your shot.
The shot you actually have in front of you: getting out of debt, building a foundation, and starting to invest consistently is available right now.
No IPO required.
Taquitos,
Caleb "Space XXX" Hammer
P.S. I'm curious if any of you guys have made bad investments in the past.
Reply and let me know your worst ones.
Stocks, businesses, that one stripper you tried to "save" in your 20's...
Lemme hear it.
And if you've got a particularly gnarly story, why don't you apply for the show?
Financial Audit is casting right meow, and if you've got debt, a spending problem, or just feel like your finances are out of control, this could be the thing that changes it.
No judgment.
Just lots of me yelling at you and calling you names.
It's fun, I swear.
Apply HERE.
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