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This is CNBC’s Morning Squawk newsletter. Subscribe here to receive future editions in your inbox.

Here are five key things investors need to know to start the trading day:

A number of retail giants reported earnings this morning, offering the latest reading on the consumer in the run-up to Black Friday. The releases follow last week’s slew of retail earnings.

Here’s the latest reports:

• Kohl’s shares soared more than 22% following an earnings beat, one day after the retailer announced Michael Bender as its permanent CEO.
• Abercrombie & Fitch shares surged 18% in premarket trading after delivering stronger-than-expected results, driven by strength in its Hollister brand. 
• Dick’s Sporting Goods fell more than 3% after announcing plans to close some Foot Locker stores in a bid to bolster profits.
• Best Buy beat Wall Street’s expectations and lifted its sales guidance, sending its shares up 2.5%.
• Alibaba, which has been cutting back on instant commerce, said revenue  in the fiscal second quarter amid a boom in cloud sales. U.S.-listed shares of the Chinese conglomerate gained more than 3% this morning.

Senior U.S. District Judge Cameron Currie threw out criminal cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James yesterday.

Currie said Lindsey Halligan, the interim U.S. attorney who led the indictments, was invalidly appointed. Both cases were dismissed “without prejudice,” meaning the charges could be filed again.

The rulings mark a loss for President Donald Trump, who pressured Attorney General Pam Bondi to take action against his political foes. White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told CNBC that “this will not be the final word on this matter.”

Amazon became the latest tech company to throw eye-popping sums behind AI buildout initiatives. The e-commerce giant said it will invest as much as $50 billion to expand its capacity to provide AI and high-performance computing capabilities for its cloud unit’s U.S. government customers.

The project is expected to begin in 2026 and will add close to 1.3 gigawatts of capacity. With the investment, government clients will also have access to Anthropic’s Claude models and Nvidia chips, in addition to Amazon hardware and software.

Also yesterday, Amazon said it will let businesses test its internet-from-space service, which was recently renamed Leo from Project Kuiper. As CNBC’s Annie Palmer notes, the product competes with SpaceX’s Starlink.

CNBC Sport is out this morning with its new NHL team valuations for 2025. The average franchise has seen its value rise 15% to $2.2 billion, driven by pricier media rights deals.

The Toronto Maple Leafs remained at the front of the pack with a valuation of $4.3 billion, up 8% from last year. The New York Rangers is the runner-up, rising by 9% year over year to $4.8 billion.

Microsoft faced vocal community opposition to a data center plan in Caledonia, Wisconsin, leading the tech giant to scrap its plans and look elsewhere. CNBC’s Jordan Novet broke down the local reaction.

— CNBC’s Gabrielle Fonrouge, Sean Conlon, Pia Singh, Dan Mangan, Kevin Breuninger, Annie Palmer, Yun Li, Michael Ozian and Jordan Novet contributed to this report. Terri Cullen edited this edition.