• The Dow, S&P and Nasdaq are coming off their best week of the year.
• Walt Disney headlines a lighter week of earnings.
• Former President Donald Trump is set to testify at a civil trial in New York.

Here are the most important news items that investors need to start their trading day:

1. Winning ways

Investors hope stocks can start a winning streak after the three major U.S. averages enjoyed their best week of the year so far. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose about 5% last week, while the S&P 500 climbed 5.9% and the Nasdaq Composite jumped 6.6%. The gains followed a tough stretch in which the S&P dropped into correction territory. Lower than expected job creation in October sent bond yields lower and helped stocks Friday. Remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and other central bank officials in the coming days will offer clues about how that data will shape policymakers' views on interest rates, after the Fed kept rates unchanged Wednesday for its second straight meeting. Follow live market updates here.

2. An ear to earnings

The earnings slate for the coming days is lighter than the deluge that hit the market in recent weeks. Even so, major names including Walt Disney, Uber, Warner Bros. Discovery, Biogen and MGM Resorts will offer investors updates on their financial health this week. Earnings season has so far been a pleasant surprise for investors. With more than 400 S&P 500 companies reporting as of Friday, earnings had climbed 5.7% from the year-ago period, according to LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv. Revenue growth had come in lower at 1.2%. Here are the key reports expected this week:

• Tuesday: Uber (before the bell); Lucid, Rivian (after the bell)
• Wednesday: Biogen, Under Armour, Warner Bros. Discovery (before the bell); Walt Disney, Lyft, MGM Resorts (after the bell)

3. Trump testifies

Former President Donald Trump is set to take the witness stand Monday in a civil fraud trial in New York, in only one of the proceedings hanging over the 2024 Republican presidential frontrunner as he mounts a third bid for the White House. New York Attorney General Letitia James accuses Trump and his two adult sons of misstating the value of key assets to obtain financial benefits. She aims to stop the family from running a business in the state again, in what would deal a blow to a man who has staked his political reputation on his business acumen. Trump argues the financial statements were not supposed to be definitive, and his adult sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, said in their own testimony that they relied on accountants to prepare the statements.

4. Musk and the machine

Elon Musk has taken his first major step into the AI space. The billionaire businessman's new venture xAI launched its chatbot, Grok. Musk wants the bot to have a snarkier bent than established rival products like OpenAI's ChatGPT, and xAI said it will have access to data from his social platform X. Grok is currently in its beta phase. Musk eventually wants to offer it as part of the $16 per month Premium+ membership on X, formerly known as Twitter.

5. Buffett's cash bump

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway reported a strong quarter over the weekend. The conglomerate's operating earnings jumped more than 40% to $10.76 billion. Meanwhile, Berkshire's cash pile rose to a record of about $157 billion by the end of September. The conglomerate's Class A shares have climbed nearly 14% this year.

– CNBC's Tanaya Macheel, Robert Hum, Kevin Breuninger, Rebecca Picciotto and Yun Li contributed to this report.

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