WSJ What’s News - Stocks Soar After Trump Cancels Threatened Strikes on Iran

Episode Date: June 11, 2026

P.M. Edition for June 11. After threatening more strikes against Iran this morning and then calling them off, President Trump said this afternoon that there’s an agreement to end the war–although final details still need to be completed. Plus, Trump says he plans to nominate Jay Clayton, a top federal Manhattan prosecutor and former SEC chairman, as intelligence director. WSJ national security reporter Yoko Kubota discusses why this move might help defuse a fight with Congress over a crucial spying tool. And SpaceX officially sold $75 billion worth of shares, making it the biggest IPO ever. Asset managers like BlackRock helped: The Journal learned that it put in an order to buy at least $5 billion worth of SpaceX shares. Alex Ossola hosts. Sign up for the WSJ's free What's News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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free of charge. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with Eye Gaming, Ontario. President Trump has a new nominee for intelligence director that could help defuse a fight with Congress. Plus, Trump calls off threatened attacks on Iran, sending markets soaring. And Citigroup is using the blockchain to make it easier for wealthy clients to trade shares of private companies. The pitch that city is making is this structure is regulated and so investors know what they're buying. It's Thursday, June 11th. I'm Alex Oslov for the Wall Street Journal.

This is the PM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories that move the world today. SpaceX this afternoon disclosed that it has sold the more than 555 million shares in its IPO at $135 a piece, giving it a valuation around $1.77 trillion. And investors have lined up. The journal has learned that the asset manager BlackRock has put in an order to buy at least $5 billion worth of SpaceX shares. Other big investment firms have also submitted eye-popping orders. These companies often buy large stakes in IPOs, but these orders are much bigger than normal. The journal understands that individual investors alone requested over $70 billion worth of SpaceX shares.

Investors typically aim big with their orders for an IPO, knowing that they're unlikely to get their full requests when a company is in high demand. The record-breaking offering has now officially raised $75 billion for the company. Elon Musk is now poised to become the world's first trillionaire. And one of Musk's friends and a longtime investor in SpaceX stands to get the second biggest payday. Antonio Gracius joined the board of SpaceX in 2010. He also served on the Tesla board for 14 years. Gracius and his firm Valor Equity Partners will own 6.7% of SpaceX's Class A shares, a $68 billion stake. Gracius and Musk's relationship goes beyond business.

The two have partied together, the Wall Street Journal has reported. and they have traveled together with their families to Europe, the Caribbean, and Africa. Gracias was also a groomsman at the wedding of Musk's brother. In other banking news, we're exclusively reporting that Citigroup is establishing a new way for its wealthy and institutional clients to trade shares of private companies. That is, companies that aren't publicly traded. The key part of the system, it runs on a blockchain. The bank said it is in discussions with some of the largest private companies to get involved,

and it hopes that other Wall Street banks will also join its venture. Sheena Hebe, who covers banks and finance for the journal, says that currently there are limited ways to get access to private companies. Investors can use special purpose vehicles or exchange-traded funds. But in those structures, it can sometimes be a little bit less clear what you're actually owning. And they can come with fees. This structure is regulated. It works through something called a depository receipt, which are essentially securities that allow investors to buy stakes in foreign companies. These are authorized by the companies, and so investors know what they're buying, and they know the ownership that's coming with that.

Gina says that City says that this is also beneficial for the companies involved. The pitch that City is making to companies is that this is going to open up a whole new world of foreign investment. Eventually, they hope to expand to U.S. investors as well. This is supposed to help companies raise money from abroad. For seniors, which Medicare plan they choose may have a major impact on whether they can get nursing home care when they need it. A new federal investigation shows that Medicare insurers varied a lot in how often they rejected requests for patients seeking nursing home stays, as well as for long-term care hospitals and inpatient rehab facilities. The Medicare insurers

with the biggest enrollments, United Health Group, Aetna, and Humana, were among the most likely to initially refuse access. For these companies, denial rates were around 13% for nursing home care. For long-term care hospitals, initial rejection rates were as high as 80%. Today, the European Central Bank raised interest rates for the first time in almost three years, lifting its key rate to 2 and a quarter percent from 2%. The decision makes the ECB the first major central bank to tighten monetary policy in response to the jump in energy prices caused by the war in Iran. Markets widely expected this move, and investors are betting the ECB will raise rates at least

once more this year. Inflation remains a major issue for the federal risk. reserve as well. The latest data point, prices charged by American producers went up again in May, rising 1.1%. That was more than analysts expected. The producer price index or PPI is used to help calculate another inflation metric, the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index. That's the Fed's official gauge. Coming up, more details on Trump's decision to nominate Jay Clayton, the federal prosecutor and former SEC chairman for Intelligence Director. That's after the break. Turning to the war in Iran, which has heated up this week, at the White House today, Trump said he had an agreement with Iran to end the war, but final details needed to be completed.

Earlier in the day, he had threatened to strike Iran tonight, and hours later, he said he was calling off those strikes. Trump says a, quote, finalization of documents should get done in the next few days, and that Vice President J.D. Vance could be in Europe for a possible signing ceremony over the weekend. Trump said he wouldn't attend a ceremony. to sign an agreement. He said that the Strait of Hormuz would open when a deal is signed. An Indian official said today that three Indian sailors were killed in a U.S. operation to enforce the blockade of Iran. They're the first reported deaths from the American blockade. U.S. Central Command said that the military had fired on a ship called the Sedebelo yesterday after the oil tanker failed to comply with American instructions. The U.S. military has targeted

three oil tankers carrying Indian crew members in the Gulf of Oman this week. The Indian Foreign Ministry said attacks that are happening must stop. The U.S. Embassy in New Delhi said it was in contact with the Indian government on the issue. Stocks surged after President Trump said that he was canceling strikes on Iran plan for tonight. All three major indexes finished sharply higher, with the NASDAQ adding more than two and a half percent. The Dow rose 930 points. Treasury yields retreated and oil prices fell, with Brent crude futures dropping almost 3 percent to about $90 a barrel. Today, President Trump said he would nominate the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, to be the next director of national intelligence.

Clayton's nomination could defuse a standoff with Congress over who would oversee the nation's spy agencies. Democrats have criticized Trump's plan to install his close ally, housing official Bill Pulte, as the acting director of national intelligence, saying he's unqualified and would weaponize the job. Hours before the announcement, the House had rejected Trump's plan to temporarily reauthorize a crucial spying tool, Section 702 of FISA. Many Democrats said they wouldn't back extending FISA until Pulte is pulled. The House vote meant the federal surveillance program, Section 702, could expire tomorrow for the first time in nearly two decades. Journal National Security reporter Yoko Kubota joins me now from the Capitol. Yoko, a major reason the House rejected today's vote was because lawmakers are on, happy with President Trump's nomination of Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence.

It's still early, but do we have a sense of whether Clayton's nomination will change things? It's a great question. We are trying to figure it out. The Senate Majority Leader, John Thune, you know, he is on the Republican side. He praised the selection of Clayton, and he said, this is a qualified professional. And he was saying that the Senate would try to get him considered as soon as possible. But meanwhile, some Democrats that I spoke in with, it's a little bit unclear. and their White House was saying that anyone is better than Bill Pulte. So that suggests perhaps it's a matter of timing how quickly Clayton can be named to take on that position. But Chuck Schumer, the minority leader, was still, you know, insisting that Pulte should not be in that position even as acting.

So it's a little bit unclear how things will turn out, but that's the immediate reaction that we were able to get. Either way, though, the House did vote today and that vote may have consequences given that Section 702 is set to explain. tomorrow. So does today's vote definitely mean that Section 702 will go dark? Section 702 has always been contentious because it allows for warrantless spying of Americans. Now, in 2008, when the previous statute expired, there was a period where there was elapsed. So it's like the first time in 20 years. And there is an intelligence court approval that came in March. And that basically said the government can continue surveillance activities under the law until March, 27. So it would indicate that the government can continue these activities. But again,

because we haven't really seen for so many years what happens when the lapse takes place, we're trying to all figure it out. So what are tech companies and telecom companies expected to do under this law? And will, like, have to stop doing that if it does, in fact, expire? So these are companies like, say, AT&T or Google or meta, that provides communications technology that both foreigners and Americans can use, when these companies receive a government directive, they have to hand over data or information that they're being asked for,

and this happens without any warrant. The concern is that when the program expires on Friday, what the company still respond to these directives, Senator Warner, who is the Democratic ranking member of the Senate's Intelligence Committee, he was saying that there was a lot of uncertainties around what exactly would happen, and that's why,

lawmakers have always tried to not get into this territory of having it expired. A lot up in the air still. I suspect we'll be hearing from you pretty soon, Yoko. That was Journal National Security Reporter, Yoko Kubota. Thanks, Yoko. Thank you. And that's what's news for this Thursday afternoon. Today's show is produced by Anthony Vancey and Danny Lewis with supervising producer Tali Arbell. I'm Alex Oceles for the Wall Street Journal. We'll be back with a new show tomorrow morning. Thanks for listening. Thank you.