Here are the most important news items that investors need to start their trading day:
1. Stocks on edge
The major U.S. indexes are looking to notch a third-straight positive session Tuesday. On Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 423.78 points, or 1.31%. The S&P 500 rose 0.96%, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.85%. But if the market can add to those gains this week will be largely determined by the outcome of the U.S. midterm elections and whether Republicans take control of Congress.
2. Heading to the polls
It's Election Day in the U.S., and control of Congress looks up for grabs. CNBC is tracking several key Senate races including Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada. Republicans are favored to win the House of Representatives, but control of the currently 50-50 Senate is harder to call. Several states also have abortion rights and marijuana laws on the ballot. As of Monday evening, voters had already cast more than 42 million ballots. Authorities are keeping a close eye for indications of voter intimidation — the Justice Department has said it will send poll monitors to 24 states. Follow CNBC's live Election Day updates here.
3. Disney earnings on deck
Disney is scheduled to report its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings after the market close Tuesday, offering investors the latest view into the media giant's streaming strategy. Wall Street will be looking for core Disney+ growth and any additional details on a forthcoming ad-supported tier. CEO Bob Chapek has been more closely linking the company's many diversified businesses, and investors will be looking for comments on how macroeconomic trends are impacting theme parks, advertising and consumer spending. The company will host a quarterly earnings call at 4:30 p.m. ET.
4. Nuclear tensions
The U.S. confirmed Monday that it's held talks with Russia in an effort to dial down the nuclear threat to Ukraine. White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan, at an event at the Economic Club of New York on Monday, said repeatedly the U.S. has "channels to communicate with the Russian Federation at senior levels," according to Reuters. Russia illegally annexed four regions of Ukraine in September, and concerns are growing that the Kremlin could leverage nuclear weapons to maintain control of those areas. Follow all of CNBC's live updates on the war in Ukraine here.
5. Record-breaking wager
Jim "Mattress Mack" McIngvale, a 71-year-old Texas furniture salesman, bet $10 million on the Houston Astros to win the World Series this year. With Saturday night's Astros victory, McIngvale clinched a record-breaking $75 million payout — and cost Caesars and Penn Entertainment. Both companies warned the payout could dent their burgeoning digital businesses and push them into the red for the current quarter. Still, Ken Fuchs, chief operating officer of Caesars Digital, said Saturday after the Astros' win that the wager was worth it: "What can we say? We just wrote the biggest check in sports betting history to Mattress Mack for $30,000,000. Would we do it all again? You bet."
– CNBC's Carmen Reinicke, Dawn Kopecki, Holly Ellyatt, Contessa Brewer and Jessica Golden contributed to this report.
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