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America spent more than $880 billion just on interest on its debt last year

America’s perfect credit era is officially over — marking the end of a century-long run.

On Friday, Moody’s downgraded the US credit rating from its highest AAA grade to Aa1, citing “large annual fiscal deficits and growing interest costs.” The move follows earlier cuts from S&P in 2011 and Fitch in 2023, driven by rising debt concerns and political gridlock.

Now, for the first time since 1917, the US no longer holds top-tier ratings from any of the major agencies — trailing the 11 countries that still boast the highest grading from all three, including Australia, Denmark, Germany, and Canada.

With the clock ticking on America’s $36 trillion debt ceiling (which could be breached as soon as August), the national debt continues to climb, as it has for decades. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the US public debt stood at 98% of GDP last year, and is set to surpass the WWII peak by 2029, hitting 119% by 2035.

What might be of particular concern to the number crunchers at Moody’s is not just the current level of federal debt, but how quickly it’s growing. Last year, the deficit was $1.8 trillion, more than 6% of GDP. The interest payments on debt alone were some $882 billion, greater than the defense and Medicare budgets.

The latest tax cuts and spending push — or, as President Trump calls it, “the big, beautiful bill” — could add another ~$4 trillion to the federal deficit over the next decade, with Moody’s now projecting that the debt-to-GDP ratio could surge to 134% by 2035.

In an interview with NBC yesterday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent shrugged off the downgrade, calling Moody’s a “lagging indicator.” But the markets took note, with the 30-year Treasury yield topping 5% this morning, a level last seen in late 2023.

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Luxury Vacation Co-Ownership Could Bring A New Real Estate Investment Opportunity

Since 2013, real estate has routinely outpaced stocks, mutual funds, gold, and savings accounts in opinion polling on the best long-term investment. With 40% of wealthy Americans wanting to buy vacation homes, it’s no wonder that the vacation home ownership market presents a $1.3T opportunity.¹

That’s the market Pacaso wants to service, with a revolutionary model of vacation home co-ownership that makes luxury real estate more accessible. 

Pacaso sells fractional ownership of luxury vacation homes, removing the hassle of property ownership while owners unpack the benefits: equity in a real estate asset, a dream home designed by pros, hassle free maintenance, and flexible stay scheduling.

By handing keys to 2,000+ happy homeowners, Pacaso has made $100M+ in gross profits in under 5 years since they launched.² Discover the Pacaso story and investment opportunity at sherwood.news.³

Virgin Galactic’s $600,000 tickets to space are getting more expensive

Bad news for anyone toying with the idea of going into space, but already perturbed by the astronomical costs: Virgin Galactic last week said that it’ll be raising the price of tickets — already around $600,000 — to get onto one of its space tourism flights next year. 

Execs didn’t go into exactly how much any aspiring Neil Armstrongs or Katy Perrys could expect to cough up, though their updates on Virgin’s private space travel timeline sent shares rocketing 43% on Friday. In its Q1 update, the company reported that development of its new Delta Class spaceships, which have six seats compared to the old fleet’s four, is “on track,” and that ticket sales will recommence in the first quarter of 2026, ahead of the first Delta flight in the fall. 

After a turbulent ride on the market since going public via a SPAC merger in October 2019, and a hell of a lot of red ink spilled, Richard Branson’s company will need a long line of people willing to drop the equivalent of a house for a few minutes of zero gravity to make the economics work.

Galaxy brains

While Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin have tended to dominate the intergalactic conversation in recent years, Branson’s business has been plugging away in the space for over two decades now. However, Virgin Galactic is yet to post a profitable quarter since it became the first publicly traded space tourism company 6 years ago, racking up over $2.1 billion in losses.

Meanwhile, shares are also down 99.5% from their 2021 peak, on the back of the cash burning and major delays for the company’s outer space ambitions.

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Pacaso, a pioneer in vacation home co-ownership, just crossed the $100M gross profit milestone.² Discover how they’re changing the landscape of luxury real estate.³

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Off the charts: What is Europe’s most valuable company, having only gaining momentum since dethroning Ozempic-maker Novo Nordisk back in March? [Answer below]. 

Answer here.

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Advertiser’s disclosures:

1 Pacaso estimates the U.S. market at $1.3 trillion and the European market as $500 billion. See website for further details. 

2 The $100M gross profit is calculated from 2021-2024. For more details on the Gross Profit for 2021- 2023, please see management discussion of the financial condition section of the offering circular. For more details on the 2024 gross profit, please see the 1-K Financial Statements section.

3 The minimum investment is $1002.40. This is a paid advertisement for Pacaso’s Regulation A offering. Please read the offering circular and related risks at invest.pacaso.com.

Investing in private company securities is not suitable for all investors because it is highly speculative and involves a high degree of risk. It should only be considered a long-term investment. You must be prepared to withstand a total loss of your investment. Private company securities are also highly illiquid, and there is no guarantee that a market will develop for such securities.

DealMaker Securities LLC, a registered broker-dealer, and member of FINRA | SIPC, located at 105 Maxess Road, Suite 124, Melville, NY 11747, is the Intermediary for this offering and is not an affiliate of or connected with the Issuer. Please check our background on FINRA's BrokerCheck.

Sherwood Media, LLC produces fresh and unique perspectives on topical financial news and is a fully owned subsidiary of Robinhood Markets, Inc., and any views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of any other Robinhood affiliate... See more