• The post-election rally stalled on Wednesday, as the Dow and S&P 500 rose slightly, and the Nasdaq Composite dipped.
• Disney narrowly beat earnings estimates as its streaming business turned another profit.
• Republicans secured control of Congress and the White House for the next two years, while President-elect Donald Trump made his most eyebrow-raising Cabinet appointment in choosing Rep. Matt Gaetz for attorney general.

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

1. Trump trade trembles

The post-election rally took a pause Wednesday. U.S. stocks were mixed for the day, stalling a torrid run after President-elect Donald Trump's victory last week. The Dow and S&P 500 both rose only slightly, while the Nasdaq Composite ticked lower. The mixed bag followed the release of inflation data for October. The consumer price index rose 2.6% year over year, in line with estimates. The figure showed price increases are stubborn, but bolstered market expectations of a Federal Reserve rate cut next month. Trump's threat of broad tariffs on imports has raised concerns that inflation could climb again next year. Follow live market updates.

2. Mouse beats by a whisker

Walt Disney narrowly topped earnings estimates on Thursday as its streaming business turned a profit for a second straight quarter. The combined segment with Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ posted an operating income of $321 million for its fiscal fourth quarter, compared with a loss of $387 million in the same period last year. Disney and its rivals have long struggled to make their streaming businesses profitable as viewers scrap pay-TV packages. Disney also got a boost from box office hits like "Inside Out 2" and "Deadpool & Wolverine," the highest-grossing animated and R-rated movies ever, respectively.

3. GO-Three

Republicans have secured their grip on Washington for the next two years. The GOP is projected to win the House majority, giving it control of both chambers of Congress and the White House starting in January, according to NBC News. Republicans will have the power to pursue major parts of Trump's agenda, from tax cuts to tariffs and a crackdown on immigration. The party will still face policy challenges. Republicans will hold a narrow House majority and control at most 53 of 100 Senate seats — margins that leave little room for defections as they try to pass complicated legislation. Separately, Republicans chose Sen. John Thune as Senate majority leader, putting the South Dakota lawmaker in charge of confirming Trump's nominees for key administration posts.

4. Matt's out of the bag

Trump has already started to announce who will fill out his administration, offering a picture of how it will handle issues from environmental regulations to foreign policy. On Wednesday, he announced he would select Sen. Marco Rubio — a Florida Republican and staunch critic of China — as his secretary of State. In a few cases, Trump has raised eyebrows when he appeared to value personal loyalty over relevant experience, like when he chose Fox News host Pete Hegseth to lead the Pentagon. But no choice caused as much stir as his selection of Rep. Matt Gaetz, another Florida Republican, as attorney general. Gaetz, a vocal critic of the Biden Justice Department who backed Trump's bids to overturn the 2020 election, was facing a House Ethics Committee probe into whether he engaged in sexual misconduct or illicit drug use. That investigation, in which he denied wrongdoing, would end if Gaetz resigns from Congress. Gaetz will likely face a tough path to Senate confirmation.

5. AMD layoffs

AMD is cutting staff. The chipmaker said it would lay off about 1,000 employees, or 4% of its global workforce. AMD, the second largest producer of graphics processing units, or GPUs, behind market darling Nvidia, has bet on AI as a growth engine. But it has not seen the same stock market success as its larger competitor. AMD shares have fallen more than 5% this year, trailing the 25% and 195% gains of the S&P 500 and Nvidia, respectively.

– CNBC's Sarah Min, Lillian Rizzo, Ece Yildirim, Rebecca Picciotto, Kevin Breuninger, Holly Ellyatt and Kif Leswing contributed to this report.