64 Comments
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RLH's avatar

Not so fast, said S&P500. Good news for ordinary people; rules remain unchanged & that means SpaceX has to meet same requirements as everyone else to get listed in the index.

Bob Carl's avatar

I am the rare investor who has never owned an index fund. I feel really good about that now!

Trashscientist's avatar

Could of used a bit more. Not as stock investing tips, but rather, facts. Where do I move my money to not buy SpaceX?

Might ride the wave up a bit for a few months, but I’m gonna sell it in due time.

Jonathan D. Simon's avatar

Catherine, you're a cross between John Maynard Keynes and JoJoFromJerz! And I mean that as a most sincere compliment. It's one thing to call a spade a spade, something much rarer to disassemble it and call its parts its parts.

MLM's avatar

Really great column Catherine. Thanks.

Keith Sewell's avatar

Thanks for the warning Catherine. I've never forbidden or advised my portfolio manager to buy anything, as his expertise in the area seems to far exceed my own and I've generally been impressed by his performance. But this time - as in Groucho Mark's famous comment about never forgetting a face - I'm going to make an exception. I wouldn't touch SpaceX with my worst enemy's barge pole. Those who are 'in' on the grift, in the sense of being informed on timing of the 'pump' and 'dump' phases, will make a lot of money; at the expense of the far greater number of dupes. I'll pass.

LostInAmerica's avatar

Can we stop quibbling over the definition of a bubble now? Here it is.

Ishmael N.'s avatar

"You’re gonna take it and you’re gonna like it"

Oh my. 🫣

Patricia Biswanger's avatar

Apart from stuffing all our money in our mattresses, and apart from creating my own index fund (do I get to charge myself a fee?), how does one avoid this likely catastrophe? Bonus points for suggestions that help stick it to Musk.

ARW's avatar

And when it all goes bust, Musk will expect to be bailed out (same with all the AI people). In a way it's good, because we can now see just what they are about. The mask is off.

Jay's avatar

These details about the Space X IPO make me want to eat my own vomit.

ARW's avatar

The SpaceX IPO is a horror show and is everything wrong with our current moment.

Robert J Danolfo's avatar

Catherine, Such a bearer of good news, let's see, people are going to be swindled, and we're telling them their going to be swindled and the Department of Justice doesn't know the meaning of the word but Musk does and it's going to make him a trillionaire. Got it, thanks!

Dick Lanier's avatar

A few comments...

1) This whole race to get the SpaceX listing reminds me of the scene from The Big Short where Steve Carell tries to find out how the mortgage bonds are still being rated AAA when the underlying mortgages are failing and is told by someone at Moody’s that if they didn’t do that, the issuing company would just take their business to S&P.

2) Isn’t the SpaceX board basically saying that they agree with reason #2 (Musk is a visionary), and they’re giving him all of those concessions because they’re afraid he won’t be their visionary if they don’t.

Rajeev's avatar

Too bad for Elon’s ~47 kids that he will do anything to keep them from seeing any of that trillion dollars.

david gregg's avatar

My partner and her siblings collaborate about investments. They keep their money seperate, but they all bring their experience to the table. They were really excited about this IPO initially, and I was the significant other saying "This is Elon Musk you'd be investing in". They, on their own, decided not to invest because "He's a Nazi scumbag". When I read the reports of the incredible losses of the company, especially the first quarter of this year, I summarized and told them. They are now doubly happy they didn't dive in. Ethically, AND financially the right decision. Thanks for your reports.