S&P 500 hits new highs, flight cancellations, the restaurant industry’s value push and more in Morning Squawk

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

Joy to the investor! While some market participants worried that the so-called Santa Claus rally wouldn’t materialize this year, the major indexes all notched wins in last week’s holiday-shortened trading period. The S&P 500 also gave traders the gift of new all-time highs.

Here’s what to know:

• The three major indexes climbed more than 1% a piece last week, marking each index’s fourth positive week in the last five.
• Despite ending Friday’s session slightly lower, the benchmark S&P 500 still logged fresh intraday records and got within 1% of the 7,000 milestone.
• It’s another shortened trading week with the stock market closed Thursday for New Year’s Day.
• Plus, it’s a light week for economic data and corporate earnings. However, investors will keep an eye on minutes from the Federal Reserve’s December meeting due out New Year’s Eve.
• Follow live markets updates here.

Thousands of flights were canceled or delayed over the weekend as a major winter storm hit the Northeast U.S. The disruptions come during the busy holiday travel period, when more than 50 million people are expected to fly.

As CNBC’s Leslie Josephs reports, airlines including American, Delta, United, Southwest and JetBlue waived change fees last week for travelers flying in and out of several airports in the Northeast. But customers need to travel by the end of the year — in other words, by the time the Times Square ball drops — if they changed their travel plans due to the storm.

President Donald Trump spent yesterday talking with Ukrainian and Russian leaders as he continued to push for a peace deal between the two countries.

Trump welcomed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. Before beginning talks, Trump said that “we have the makings of a deal that is good for Ukraine” and “good for everybody.” Afterward, Trump said “we’re getting a lot closer” to an agreement. Zelenskyy said this morning that he asked Trump for up to 50 years of security guarantees for Ukraine.

Earlier on Sunday, Trump said in a Truth Social post that he had a “good and very productive telephone call” with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump said he planned to call Putin again after finishing his meeting with Zelenskyy.

Groq is calling Nvidia’s acquisition of its top talent a “non-exclusive licensing agreement.” Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon said in a report that the structure may be used to avoid antitrust concerns and “keep the fiction of competition alive.”

As CNBC’s Ari Levy reports, Groq would be Nvidia’s largest acquisition on record. But the world’s most valuable company is instead choosing to pay for the startup’s top talent and access to its technology through licensing — a popular strategy among major tech firms in recent years.

For some on Wall Street, the agreement underscores Nvidia’s ballooning size. “They’re so big now that they can do a $20 billion deal on Christmas Eve with no press release and nobody bats an eye,” Rasgon told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” on Friday.

Value was a hot topic among some restaurant chains this year as they tried to keep price-conscious consumers coming in their doors. McDonald’s extended its $5 value meal and brought back Extra Value Meals. Taco Bell followed suit by expanding its Luxe Cravings box offerings this year.

As CNBC’s Amelia Lucas reports, that strategy will likely stick around in 2026.

The emphasis on value comes as data shows diners are more focused on costs after years of high inflation. But not all restaurant chains have jumped on the bandwagon: Fast-casual restaurants like Chipotle and Cava have tried to avoid discounting and instead zeroed in on quality.

Here’s what we’re watching in this four-day trading week:

• Wednesday: Fed meeting minutes
• Thursday: Stock market closed for New Year’s Day

CNBC Pro subscribers can see a calendar and rundown for the week here.

— CNBC’s Sean Conlon, Sarah Min, Leslie Josephs, Hugh Son, Holly Ellyatt, Ari Levy and Amelia Lucas contributed to this report. Josephine Rozzelle edited this edition.