When President Trump meets China's Xi Jinping for the first time today, investors will be closely watching the interaction for clues about the future relationship between the world's two largest economies. The summit in Mar-a-Lago will shine a spotlight on trade imbalances, jobs, currency manipulation, "one-China policy," and the threat of North Korea's nuclear program.

Economy

In what was supposed to be a non-event, minutes released from the Fed's March meeting revealed an agreement among board members to start shrinking the central bank's $4.5B balance sheet. It also showed discussion about the high valuation of U.S. equities. Adding more pressure on stocks, House Speaker Paul Ryan said changing tax policy could take longer than overhauling healthcare.

"We are confident that our policy is working," ECB President Mario Draghi said at a conference in Frankfurt, stressing "sufficient confidence" would be necessary for the central bank to change tack. "We have not yet seen sufficient evidence to materially alter our assessment of the inflation outlook... Hence a reassessment of the current monetary policy stance is not warranted at this stage."

In a private meeting with lawmakers, White House economic adviser Gary Cohn voiced support for a rule that could radically reshape Wall Street by splitting consumer-lending from investment banking. The comments echo what President Trump and Republican lawmakers have previously said about bringing back Glass-Steagall, which kept the businesses separate for more than six decades.

The recent poison gas attack crossed "many, many lines," Trump told reporters on Wednesday, stating his "attitude toward Syria and Assad has changed very much." That could set up a conflict with Moscow, the Syrian president's principal backer. Meanwhile, White House chief strategist Steve Bannon has been removed from his seat on the National Security Council in a shakeup that restored the roles of other defense officials.

Greece is "just a breath" away from reaching a breakthrough in debt negotiations with bailout creditors, according to Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who called for a special eurozone summit if a deal fails to materialize tomorrow. He hinted that some lenders were "moving the goalposts" each time Athens was close to meeting approval conditions and, without naming who was involved, said: "This is not a game."

Stocks

Thomas Edison may have co-founded General Electric (NYSE:GE), but that doesn't mean the conglomerate isn't interested in selling its consumer-lighting unit. According to the WSJ, GE is interviewing investment banks about possibly selling the iconic division, which the sources say could go for $500M. The deal wouldn't include its LED lighting company Current.

Calling the event a "trigger moment," Unilever (UL, UN) has committed to shaking up its business with a strategic review following the failed takeover attempt by Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC). It's kicking off a share buyback of €5B this year, will raise its cost savings targets and dividend by 12%, and confirmed plans to sell its spreads business, including brands like Flora and Stork.

As it seeks to expand in the U.S., Seven & i Holdings (OTCPK:SVNDY), which operates the 7-Eleven chain, will buy most of Sunoco's (NYSE:SUN) convenience store and gasoline retail businesses for about $3.3B. The Japanese company, which has about 8,700 stores in the U.S. and Canada (including franchises), aims to increase its number of locations to 10,000 over the three years through 2019.

Becoming the second bank to divest from the controversial project, BNP Paribas (OTCQX:BNPQF) has sold its $120M share of the $2.5B loan for the Dakota Access Pipeline. It follows ING's move last month. Energy Transfer Partners (NYSE:ETP), which operates the 1,100-mile pipeline, has begun filling the pipeline with crude and could reach full operating capacity later this month.

Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, whose once-$5B stake in her blood-testing firm has shriveled amid regulatory and legal challenges, still owes her company about $25M, WSJ reports. The disclosure was included in a deal document circulated to a group of current investors, which noted that Theranos (Private:THERA) has the ability to release Holmes of the debt.

Medtronic is close to a deal to offload its medical supplies business to Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) for close to $6B, Reuters reports. The sale would streamline Medtronic's (NYSE:MDT) portfolio after its $42.9B acquisition of Covidien in 2014. In that deal, it inherited most of the company's medical supplies unit, which sells everything from syringes to surgical instruments.

Until the company becomes profitable, Jeff Bezos plans to sell about $1B worth of Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) stock annually to fund Blue Origin (Private:BORGN), which aims to launch paying passengers on 11-minute space rides starting next year. How much will a ticket cost? About $300,000. Blue Origin's New Shepard capsule will have room for six passengers and the "largest windows in spacecraft history."

Rockwell Collins is set to gain unconditional EU approval for its $6.4B bid for aircraft interior maker B/E Aerospace (NASDAQ:BEAV), Reuters reports. The deal will boost Rockwell's (NYSE:COL) exposure to a record pipeline of commercial aerospace equipment purchases and expand its relatively modest presence in lucrative aftermarkets.

Amid sweeping plans to electrify its vehicle lineup, Ford (NYSE:F) plans to launch a new plug-in hybrid car in China next year and will bring a fully electric SUV to the country in the next five years. The automaker said it also expects 70% of Ford brand vehicles sold in China to be conventional hybrids, plug-in hybrids or full battery electric by 2025.

More big bets on China? Volkswagen (OTCPK:VLKAY) is expanding its footprint in the world's second-largest economy, despite a slowdown in growth. The automaker announced a $180M investment into Mobvoi, which will focus on implementing artificial intelligence technology, such as voice recognition and smart rearview mirrors, to help improve drivers' experiences.

JPMorgan shareholders will again vote on a proposal calling for the board to select a chairman who is not the company's chief executive. The JPM board is against the measure, which was proposed by a stakeholder who contends that good corporate governance requires an independent chairman, and has defeated similar proposals in the past.

With its share sale coming to a close today, investors have pledged to buy more than 95% of the stock in Deutsche Bank's (NYSE:DB) rights offer. The capital increase - the bank's fourth since 2010 - is the centerpiece in CEO John Cryan's new turnaround plan, which he announced in early March after failing to sell Postbank.

The Department of Labor has officially delayed its implementation of the fiduciary rule on retirement accounts until June 9. Among the issues: Firms may have "reasonably assumed" there was going to be a delay in implementation, and thus slowed compliance efforts. Putting the rule into effect on April 10 could have also meant a "chaotic transition."

Casting itself as sole proprietor in this Epix tale, MGM (OTC:MGMB) is spending slightly more than $1B to buy out its longtime partners in the movie service, Paramount Pictures (VIA, VIAB) and Lionsgate (LGF.A, LGF.B) "The addition of Epix provides MGM with a premier distribution platform that complements our strong stable of new and library content," CEO Gary Barber in a statement.

Following in the footsteps of Facebook Lite (NASDAQ:FB) and YouTube Go (GOOG, GOOGL), Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) is launching a data-optimized version of its service aimed at people with sporadic network connections or located in the emerging markets. Twitter Lite works through a web browser, not a stand-alone phone application, but its appearance and functionality are nearly identical to what app users experience.

Australia's consumer watchdog has launched legal action against Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) over the iPhone maker's approach to third-party repairs. The tech giant "bricked" - or disabled with a software update - smartphones and tablets, and then refused to unlock them on the grounds that customers had the devices serviced by non-Apple repairers, the ACCC said in a court filing.

Wednesday's Key Earnings

Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ:BBBY) +4.5% AH topping expectations.
Monsanto (NYSE:MON) +1% after positive guidance.
Walgreens (NASDAQ:WBA) -1.6% in-line earnings, seeing Rite Aid (NYSE:RAD) deal closing soon.

Today's Markets

In Asia, Japan -1.4%. Hong Kong -0.5%. China +0.4%. India -0.2%.
In Europe, at midday, London -0.3%. Paris +0.2%. Frankfurt -0.2%.
Futures at 6:20, Dow flat. S&P flat. Nasdaq flat. Crude +0.1% to $51.19. Gold +0.5% to $1254.90.
Ten-year Treasury Yield flat at 2.36%

Today's Economic Calendar
Chain Store Sales
7:30 Challenger Job-Cut Report
8:30 Initial Jobless Claims
8:30 Gallup Good Jobs Rate
9:45 Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index
10:30 EIA Natural Gas Inventory
4:30 Money Supply
4:30 Fed Balance Sheet