SPCE spikes and I sell the rest for +$2,746 — my best trade yet

The best trade I've made. I sold my remaining 554 shares of SPCE at an average of $7.80 against a cost basis near $2.85, booking +$2,746 on the day. Combined with the lot I trimmed on May 29, that one position produced about +$3,523.

What was actually driving it

This wasn't a random pop. Virgin Galactic had put up a Q1 beat on both earnings and revenue, there were reports of a new strategic investor, VSS Unity had resumed glide flights at Spaceport America, and the company had reopened ticket sales and firmed up its 2026 flight timeline. On a low-float, heavily shorted name, that combination lit a fuse: the stock went from around $3.34 on May 26 to an intraday high near $8.90, closing around $7.52 on June 1. A large chunk of that was short-squeeze mechanics rather than a sober re-rating of the business.

I sold into the spike at $7.80 — above where it closed. I'd love to claim I read the squeeze perfectly. The truth is I had a position from April, I saw a vertical move on a stock I already owned, and I took it. Being early is what created the opportunity; the exit just required not getting greedy.

The stock faded back toward the $4.60s within days. If I'd held for “more,” a $2,700 win becomes a fraction of that. Selling into strength — while buyers are still panicking to get in — is the part that actually took discipline.

Where this leaves me

Running total since April: +$3,523, essentially all of it from one patiently-held position in one stock. I was flat SPCE for the first time in six weeks and, in hindsight, at the high-water mark of my judgment. What I did next — start trading far more frequently — is the rest of this journal. Read: what 890 trades looked like once I reconstructed the statement →