Issue 001 is here — the weekly business newsletter brought to you by Pretus. The free platform that helps you master the finance recruiting cycle with AI-driven interview prep for IB, CRE, WM, AM, & more + networking, behaviorals, and an exclusive ecosystem with 1 on 1 coaching and insights you can’t get anywhere else.
The Biggest IPO in History Goes Live June 12
On June 12, SpaceX goes public on Nasdaq at $135 per share — a $1.77 trillion valuation that makes it the seventh-largest company in the United States. The deal raises $75 billion, the largest IPO in the history of capital markets, lapping Saudi Aramco’s $29.4B record from 2019.
The banks running this: Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and J.P. Morgan, are collecting fees in the nine figures. The analysts executing the deals are a year out of playing college lacrosse and going to keg parties.
Here’s the tension: Morningstar published a note saying SpaceX is worth $780 billion, roughly 56 cents on every dollar Musk is charging. Their argument: the $1.77T price assumes markets SpaceX hasn’t entered yet, at margins that don’t exist in the industry.
Musk’s counter: Starlink has 5 million subscribers and growing. The SpaceX-xAI merger (closed February 2026, $1.25T) turned this into an AI compute + satellite + launch- infrastructure play that no entity on earth can replicate. This isn’t a rocket company. It’s the infrastructure layer for the next decade of the internet.
Our read:
SPCX closes above $135 on day one — 49%
SpaceX becomes the most valuable US company within 3 years — 41%
Morningstar’s $780B estimate looks right by EOY — 28%
This deal creates 5+ years of AI infrastructure M&A Activity — 83%
Who Wins When SpaceX Goes Public
Three public stocks already moving on SpaceX IPO momentum and why.
Linde PLC (LIN) - Linde built a $100M liquid oxygen plant 50 miles from SpaceX's Starbase in Texas specifically to supply rocket launches — cutting delivery time from 10 hours to under 2. They're not a space company. They're the company that fuels the space companies, which means they win whether SpaceX, Rocket Lab, or anyone else is launching. Aerospace is under 5% of Linde's revenue today. Watch that number.
Rocket Lab (RKLB) - RKLB has gone parabolic — Q1 revenue hit a record $200M, up 63.5% year over year, backlog at $2.2B. The SpaceX IPO is pulling every serious space stock higher by repricing the sector as legitimate infrastructure. The risk: RKLB is overbought by every technical measure (RSI ~80) and unprofitable. Classic buy-the-rumor setup. Watch what happens June 12.
Redwire (RDW) - Redwire makes the hardware that goes on spacecraft — solar arrays, structures, payloads. They just landed a spot on the Space Force's $1.8B satellite surveillance contract. Analysts are forecasting 40% revenue growth in 2026. The catch: losing money, no profitability forecast for 3+ years. High risk, high upside — exactly the kind of position that makes a great recruiting conversation.
Knowing why these stocks are moving is exactly what impresses bankers in a coffee chat.
Summer Analyst ‘28 recruiting opens this fall. Here’s what to do now.
If you're a rising sophomore targeting IB for Summer 2028, your recruiting cycle opens in October. That sounds far. It isn't. Recruiters spend 6-8 seconds per resume — it either clears the bar or it doesn't.
These tips come from Goldman, tier-one universities, and top recruiting guides.
Use the ACR formula on every bullet.
Action → Context → Result. Quantify everything
"Responsible for planning activities for club members" ❌
"Coordinated outreach program with 5 teammates for 175 prospective members, earning 95% top ratings in post-event survey" ✅
Order experience by relevance, not chronology.
Your most finance-relevant role leads, even if it was earlier. Recruiters read top to bottom and stop when they lose interest.
Never write “Proficient in Microsoft Office.” Ever.
It signals you have nothing better to put there. Instead: Excel, financial modeling, Bloomberg Terminal, Python.
The Additionals section is your secret weapon.
Banking at Michigan calls it “one of the most, if not the most important sections.” Languages, unusual sports, instruments, and early programs. This is what drives every networking call. 5 items. One line. Make them interesting.
Live Case Study: The Strait of Hormuz
In February 2026, the US and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran. Iran responded by closing the Strait of Hormuz, a 21-mile-wide waterway that handles roughly 20% of the world's oil supply. The global oil market entered the largest supply disruption in its recorded history.
Since then, US gas went from $2.94 to $4.45 a gallon (+51% in four months). Goldman raised its recession probability to 30% within 12 months and estimates the oil shock is stripping 10,000 jobs a month from the US economy.
Who’s winning: Energy bankers, commodity traders, defense sector analysts. Geopolitical disruption creates deal flow - asset sales.
Who’s getting squeezed: Consumer companies, airlines, logistics. When gas goes up 51% in four months, CFO’s cut budgets, and M&A plans get shelved.
Our read:
Oil crosses $100/barrel before EOY — 58%
US enters recession in next 12 months — 31%
Hormuz ceasefire holds through Q3 2026 — 44%
Energy banking becomes most competitive SA'28 desk — 67%
Recessions don't kill finance careers — they reshape them. The 2008 class went through the worst financial crisis in modern history and produced some of the best investors and restructuring bankers of the last two decades.
Next issue: Commercial Real Estate - the most underrated vertical in finance, why CRE analysts might be the most balanced people on Wall Street, and what a potential recession means for where the deals actually are.
— Clip’d by Pretus
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