From New York to Tokyo, institutional and retail investors worldwide were glued to their screens on Friday, awaiting the start of trading for what is poised to be the largest IPO in history: Elon Musk's SpaceX.

Dennis Dick, Head of Market Structure at Triple D Trading in Toronto and a proprietary trader, shared his experience: "I've been awake for five hours and haven't eaten anything yet! I'm absolutely starving, my stomach is growling. I'm staring at the screen, just hoping SpaceX starts trading so I can finally get some food. I can't leave my seat right now, I'm even afraid to go to the bathroom because I might miss the moment."

On the other side of the globe in Sydney, Australia, the local trading session had long since ended. Justin Lin, an Investment Strategist at Global X Management, typically spends Friday evenings rewatching the Netflix series 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' with his girlfriend. However, he too was keeping a close watch on SpaceX. He remarked, "She might be a bit annoyed that I have my terminal open next to her, but that's the nature of this job... I think the significance of this event goes beyond just market demand for SpaceX. In a way, it's more like testing the market's appetite for 'hope and dream' type trades, which is essentially the logic the entire chip sector is currently running on."

In New York, R.J. Grant, Head of Global Equity Trading at Stifel Nicolaus, likened the atmosphere to a sporting event: "The excitement is palpable! It feels like the tip-off for a Knicks playoff game, this is the calm before the storm. With summer here, we're also in the season for interns and new hires, so there are a lot of energetic, driven young people completely captivated by all this. It's going to be busy, so I might have to run across the street to Shake Shack to grab lunch for the trading desk team later."

Investing in 'Musk' Rather Than Valuation

Ron Shamgar, Head of Australian Equities at TAMIM Asset Management, stated plainly that this trade is essentially about "buying into Elon Musk the person." He explained, "You're buying his vision, his plan for the next 10, 20 years. Otherwise, based on valuation alone, you wouldn't invest in this company." Shamgar's fund focuses on Australian stocks and does not hold a position in SpaceX.

Michael Monaghan, Partner and Portfolio Manager at Founder Funds in Dallas, expressed a highly bullish view, calling Musk "the greatest founder of our generation." He revealed that in preparation for this IPO, he spent 15 to 20 hours per week over the past eight weeks conducting research. He outlined a clear buying strategy: he would consider adding to his position if the total market valuation dips below $2.25 trillion.

Retail Frenzy High, Some Advisors Urge Caution

Melissa Armo, founder of Stock Swoosh, which provides trading courses for retail investors, reported being inundated with calls recently from people asking about SpaceX trading strategies. Her stance was more cautious, repeatedly reminding clients of the precedent where many high-profile IPOs fizzled out after their first day. She indicated she herself wouldn't consider entering the market until next week at the earliest. "I'm not sure if anyone wants to listen to me, everyone is so hyped up right now. I believe this is a wild west style trade," she said.

In Tokyo, 20-year-old retail investor Getto Hagiya secured five shares of SpaceX through Japan's lottery allocation system. Although she wished to purchase more, she chose to hold off for now. She stated, "I wanted to buy more, but I feel the initial volatility will be extremely high, so I plan to watch the debut performance first before deciding whether to follow up."