The Final Frontier?
I really enjoyed watching today's SpaceX launch of two astronauts on a mission to the International Space Station. I have to admit, I was a little nervous, since I still have vivid memories of the Space Shuttle Challenger's (1986) and Columbia's (2003) failed missions. Especially since we have had such a rough year so far in 2020. But as it turned out, the launch went as planned and the astronauts are on their way to the ISS. With this launch, a new era of America's space program begins as well, with a private / public partnership hopefully making space travel safer and less costly. Missions to the moon and Mars seem to be well within our reach now. It's a very exciting development indeed.  In thinking about the opportunity that commercial space flight offers, I did a little research into ETF's that can give you exposure to this emerging growth area. Not surprisingly, many of the stocks tracked by these ETF's are in the aerospace and defense industry and are mostly industrial companies, which is important to keep in mind when looking at your overall portfolio diversification. See below for the screener results:
While all of these ETF's have performed poorly looking back 3/6/12 months, over the past month, they have seen some life as the stock market has rallied. The best performer has been the Procure Space ETF, with a one month return of 15.5%. It also has the highest expense ratio of the group at 0.75 and the lowest dividend yield of the group at 0.61%, both of which aren't great. However, if the superior return can be sustained maybe that's not such a big deal. The ticker symbol for this ETF is appropriately "UFO."
Here are the top holdings of UFO:
Virgin Galactic, DISH Network, Garmin and Sirius XM Holdings might be familiar names, but here's a summary of the top three companies, which might not be that familiar to you:
ORBCOMM, Inc. engages in the provision of network connectivity, devices, device management, and web reporting applications. Its products are designed to track, monitor, control and enhance security for a variety of assets, such as heavy equipment; fixed asset monitoring; government and homeland security; and in industries for manufacturing, warehousing, and supply chain management. It operates through the following geographical segments: United States, South America, Japan, Europe, and Other. The company was founded on April 4, 2001 and is headquartered in Rochelle Park, NJ.
Maxar Technologies, Inc. provides space technology solutions, delivering unmatched end-to-end capabilities in satellites, robotics, Earth imagery, geospatial data, analytics and insights. Its segments include Space Systems, Imagery and Services. The company was founded on February 3, 1969 and is headquartered in Westminster, CO.
Trimble, Inc. engages in the provision of positioning technology solutions. It operates through the following segments: Buildings and Infrastructure, Geospatial, Resources and Utilities, and Transportation. The Buildings and Infrastructure segment serves architects, engineers, contractors, owners, and operators. The Geospatial segment offers solutions for the customers working in surveying, engineering, and government. The Resources and Utilities segment caters customers working in agriculture, forestry, and utilities. The Transportation segment covers long-haul trucking, field service management, rail, and construction logistics industries. The company was founded in 1978 by Charles Robert Trimble and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, CA.
Unfortunately, SpaceX is still a private company owned by Elon Musk so until he decides to take it public like Tesla, you'll have to find other ways to invest in the Space Economy. Hopefully this ETF list gives you some ideas.
I hope you find this post useful as you chart your personal financial course and Build a Financial Fortress in 2020.  Stay safe, healthy and positive.
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