Unraveling four-decade-old ties, Theresa May will invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty at around 7:30 a.m. ET with a hand-delivered letter to EU President Donald Tusk. That will set the stage for two years of landmark negotiations, including trade, immigration and the future of Britain's $2.6T economy. While the Brexit decision last summer came as a surprise and rocked markets, stocks quickly recovered and have since notched record highs.

Economy

Scottish lawmakers have voted 69-59 to seek a new referendum on independence within the next two years, presenting the British government with an unwelcome distraction as it pushes the EU exit button. "The mandate for a referendum is beyond question, and it would be democratically indefensible - and utterly unsustainable - to attempt to stand in the way of it," declared First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

Companies looking to build President Trump's border wall will now have until April 4 to submit offers after the DHS extended today's deadline. Almost 700 businesses have already placed bids, including U.S. Concrete (NASDAQ:USCR), KBR, Martin Marietta (NYSE:MLM) and Fluor (NYSE:FLR). The wall must be at least 18 feet high, can't be climbed, prevents digging below it for at least six feet and has a U.S.-facing side that is "aesthetically pleasing."

Fraternal Order of Police leaders have warned President Trump that he could endanger public safety if he follows through with cuts in federal grants to "sanctuary cities." On Monday, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said the Justice Department would restrict grants to jurisdictions that do not cooperate with federal immigration authorities.

New commercial satellite imagery suggests that North Korea is preparing to test its sixth nuclear device, as U.S. and Chinese leaders plan to meet next month on how to contain Pyongyang's weapons program. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson recently ruled out direct talks with North Korea for now, and suggested that tighter sanctions could be implemented.

Stocks

The Samsung Galaxy S8 is set to be unveiled in New York, with a press conference starting at 11 a.m. ET. What we know from leaks: There are two sizes (5.8 and 6.2 inch screens), no home button and a virtual assistant named Bixby. Samsung (OTC:SSNLF) has to pretty much hit a home run with the device after its fiasco with the exploding Note 7.

Following last week's vote in the Senate, the U.S. House has voted 215-205 to repeal Obama-era regulations governing consumer privacy protection at Internet service providers. If passed into law, the repeal will again allow ISPs to sell consumer information including browsing history without customer consent. Related tickers: T, VZ, CMCSA, CHTR, OTCPK:ATCEY, FTR, CTL, WIN, CCOI

Under pressure from large corporate customers, Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO) is getting ready to disrupt one of its biggest businesses. According to The Information, the firm plans to sell operating system software for networking devices without requiring the purchase of high-end hardware. That means customers could use the company's cheaper switches that run on chips made by other shops like Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO).

The U.S. Commerce Department will remove Chinese telecom equipment maker ZTE Corp. (OTCPK:ZTCOY) from a trade blacklist after the company admitted to violating sanctions on Iran. At the same time, severe restrictions will be imposed on former ZTE chief executive, Shi Lirong, whom the agency accused of approving efforts to circumvent the sanctions.

More trouble? The biggest state-owned bank on Turkey's stock market plunged 19% overnight after its deputy chief executive was arrested in the U.S., accused of using his position to help facilitate evasion of U.S. sanctions on Iran. "The main concern is whether Halkbank (OTCPK:THBIY) will face a penalty or not, and how much that would be if it happened," said Michel Danechi, a fund manager at Duet Asset Management.

Seeking to limit losses that have plunged it into crisis, Toshiba's (OTCPK:TOSYY) board has approved a U.S. bankruptcy filing for its Westinghouse division. Chapter 11 would allow the nuclear unit to renegotiate or break its construction contracts, although the utilities that own the projects, including Southern Co. (NYSE:SO) and Scana (NYSE:SCG), would likely seek damages.

Meanwhile, a consortium led by SK Hynix (OTC:HXSCF) has offered to pay more than $9B for a majority stake in Toshiba's (OTCPK:TOSYY) memory chip business, the Maeil Business Newspaper reports. The Japanese firm put the business up for sale in response to a $6.3B writedown expected from exposure to Westinghouse.

Lockheed Martin is expected to receive Pentagon approval tomorrow to begin production for 200 new CH-53K King Stallion heavy cargo helicopters. The $27B program would replace the CH-53E Super Stallion, which has operated as the backbone of field logistics for the U.S. Marines since the mid-1980s. Terms of Lockheed's (NYSE:LMT) production deal are still being finalized.

A Boeing 737 operated by Peruvian Airlines caught fire Tuesday evening while landing at an airport in central Peru; all 141 people on board the flight were evacuated safely. The fire likely started when the wing scraped the runway, according to Interior Minister Carlos Basombrio, but Boeing (NYSE:BA) said it was aware of the incident and was gathering information.

Expanding beyond their code sharing agreement, Delta (NYSE:DAL) and Korean Air Lines have agreed to form a joint venture to share costs and revenue on flights across the Pacific amid intense competition. Earlier this week, American Airlines (NASDAQ:AAL) agreed to buy a 2.68% stake in China Southern Airlines (NYSE:ZNH) for $200M in a deal that also involves code sharing.

EU antitrust regulators have blocked a $14B merger between Deutsche Boerse (OTCPK:DBOEY) and the London Stock Exchange (OTCPK:LNSTY) because of the companies' combined market power. "As the parties failed to offer the remedies required to address our competition concerns, the commission has decided to prohibit the merger," said Margrethe Vestager, the EU's antitrust commissioner.

Wells Fargo is setting aside $110M to settle a class-action lawsuit over the creation of millions of unauthorized customer accounts. The lawsuit dates from May 2015, more than a year before the bank agreed to pay $185M in penalties to settle regulatory charges over opening 2M accounts without customers' permission. Wells (NYSE:WFC) expects the settlement to resolve other pending class actions.

The evolution of stock picking has taken a toll on jobs and fees at BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) after the world's biggest money manager said it will increasingly rely on data-mining technology to make investment decisions. Over forty staff will be laid off, including some portfolio managers. The revamp marks BlackRock's biggest attempt to rejuvenate its actively managed equities business as investors shift to ETFs.

Elliott Advisors, the hedge fund with a 3.25% stake in Dutch paint maker Akzo Nobel (OTCQX:AKZOY), has identified shareholders representing 25% of the company's owners who want it to engage in takeover talks with PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG). Akzo previously rebuffed a €24.4B takeover proposal and declined "engaging" with the U.S. company, saying it will instead detail plans to spin off its chemicals division.

Exxon Mobil has written to the Trump administration urging it to keep the U.S. in the 2015 Paris climate agreement. Calling the accord "an effective framework," Exxon (NYSE:XOM) cited a number of reasons to stay in the pact, including the opportunity to support greater use of natural gas, since it creates lower carbon emissions than coal when used for power generation.

Today's Markets

In Asia, Japan +0.1%. Hong Kong +0.2%. China -0.4%. India +0.4%.
In Europe, at midday, London -0.2%. Paris +0.1%. Frankfurt +0.3%.
Futures at 6:20, Dow -0.1%. S&P flat. Nasdaq flat. Crude +0.5% to $48.61. Gold -0.3% to $1251.30.
Ten-year Treasury Yield flat at 2.41%

Today's Economic Calendar

7:00 MBA Mortgage Applications
9:20 Fed's Evans speech
10:00 Pending Home Sales
10:30 EIA Petroleum Inventories
11:30 Fed's Rosengren: Economic Outlook
11:30 Results of $15B, 2-Year FRN Auction
1:00 PM Results of $28B, 7-Year Note Auction