The purpose of SpaceX is to fulfill Elon's dream that can be funded by money earned from his practical projects. I won't divert money that I'm placing into Elon's practical enterprises in order to fund SpaceX.
If SpaceX can successfully develop Grasshopper (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoxiK7K28PU) into an effective orbital delivery system, I think they could possibly earn an unimaginable amount of money from commercial and government contracts. The price of space launches depends heavily on the cost of building a completely disposable vehicle. A simple, re-usable vehicle could alter profit margins significantly.
Ultimately, I think that the Mars colonization stuff will use SpaceX technology, but I believe that the funding would come from governments and wealthy private groups. A "Mars Foundation", separate from SpaceX, would raise funds from government agencies, corporations, space enthusiast groups, wealthy individuals, and/or people who want to buy tickets to become Mars colonists. This Foundation would use its money to purchase mission assets from SpaceX. The way I see things, SpaceX creates the technological knowledge and infrastructure necessary for a Mars mission. I don't believe that SpaceX itself will be building and operating Mars colonies.
Back on topic though: For people still nervous about TSLA's daily price volatility, don't sweat the bumps in the road. If you look at stocks that generated big returns for investors in the past, like AAPL and INTC, the process took years, or even decades. For most investors, trying to score big profits right away is tempting, but that's really speculating, not investing.
Someone earlier counseled patience, and I can think of no word that would be more appropriate. In my experience, patience nearly always wins. For most stock buyers, trading in and out of a stock usually only enriches the brokerage.
