Something from nothing

Good morning Staker! Here’s what’s cookin’ today. There’s a growing class divide in air travel, what to expect from the stock market in 2026, Tony Iommi updates fans on his next solo release, and a new record set for Star Wars collectibles 🚀

But first a quick note to kick off the year…

The 2025 economy was best-characterized as K-shaped, which analysts interpret to mean the rich got richer and the poor got poorer. When it comes to the aviation industry in 2026, experts expect carriers to act according to that exact economic trendline.

“It’s the airline version of the K-shaped economy. Monetize the top of the K and minimize the shortfall at the bottom,” said Robert Mann, a veteran executive of multiple airlines and the president of aviation consulting firm R.W. Mann & Co.

In other words, airlines are expected to compete harder for the extra disposable dollars of those with money to burn, offering enhanced experiences that include new airport lounges, nicer first-class cabins, and other perks available to those at the top. At the same time, lower-class offerings that trim the fat and offer the barest-bone budget experience could become more commonplace among all carriers.

Delta and United are expected to continue taking home the lion’s share of industry profits, after accounting for nearly all of them in the first three quarters of 2025.

Typically-low-cost carriers (such as JetBlue and the struggling-to-survive Spirit Airlines) are expected to wade more into premium markets to insulate themselves against the effects of an economic downturn, in which low-income earners would simply stop travelling, while upper-income earners’ plans would be less-impacted.

It’s pretty hard to bet against the American stock market these days. Despite nerves about President Donald Trump’s trade war, an AI bubble, a weakening jobs market, and the state of the Federal Reserve’s independence, the S&P 500 posted double-digit gains in 2025 for the third straight year.

Historically, the index has lost an average of 8% in years that followed gains of 10% or higher. Yet, Wall Street is mostly bullish on such gains materializing again in 2026, which would mark four straight years of growth at that pace.

Those who dare to ride the bull have needed iron will at times. The index gained over 16% in 2025 despite falling a staggering 19% in April after the introduction of President Trump’s “reciprocal" tariffs.

“This year’s gains have shown that the bull market is all gas, no brakes,” said Hardika Singh, economic strategist at Fundstrat. “And there are few solid reasons to believe this run can’t extend into the next year.”

“Yes, stocks are expensive and AI bubble allegations are natural, but it’s not concerning to me because companies’ earnings keep growing,” he said.

At the same time, gold saw its best year since 1979 in 2025, and the notable resilience of consumer spending is increasingly relying on higher-income earners to carry the load. If spending plateaus, earnings could follow suit, and the bull ride could come to an abrupt end.

Researchers at the Mayo Clinic conducted an analysis of nearly 300,000 electrocardiograms using AI, and found financial stress was a bigger contributor to heart aging than several physical factors.

The team analyzed the ECGs of 280,323 patients who recieved the scan at the Mayo Clinic between 2018 and 2023 and identified “financial resource strain” as the most contributory factor to heart aging among the nine social factors analyzed.

When filtering the data to compare financial strain to a difference in heart age and chronological age, the more stressed a person was financially, the bigger the gap between their heart age and actual age.

Following up on each data point after two years, the researchers also determined chronic financial stress can increase the risk of death by up to 60%. By comparison, death risk only rose by 10% for those who’d previously had a heart attack.

The other social determinants analyzed by the researchers included physical activity, social connections, housing stability, finances, transportation, food security, nutrition, and education.

High blood pressure ranked highest among physical conditions contributing to accelerated heart aging, followed by diabetes, heart failure, and kidney disease.

The holiday season can be a whirlwind making it all the more likely that you missed the big news about the original Star Wars promotional poster.

The half-sheet poster for Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope sold at a Heritage Auctions a few weeks back, fetching $3.88 million and breaking the record for most money paid for an item associated with the George Lucas franchise.

The image—an original painting by Tom Yung—initially began showing up in newspapers on May 13, 1977 before getting called up to the big leagues for use in theater programs, billboards, and international papers. The authentic original had been owned by Star Wars producer Gary Kurtz until it was sold by Heritage.

“This isn’t just a milestone for Star Wars. It’s a landmark moment for the entire field of pop culture collectibles and artwork,” Charles Epting, Heritage’s director of pop culture and historical consignments, said in a statement.

“This painting defined the visual language one of the most beloved films of all time, and its impact clearly still resonates with collectors at the highest level.”

The $3.88 million sale now stands as the record, eclipsing the $3.6 million paid for Darth Vader’s lightsaber at a Propstore auction just a few months ago.

Tony Iommi confirmed in a video posted on his YouTube channel that his long-awaited third solo album will indeed come out this year.

The Black Sabbath legend is known not only for helping to invent a genre of music, but also for his extensive vault of unused guitar riffs. It therefore may be surprising that he’s only put out two solo studio albums, the first of which—Iommi—debuted in 2000, followed by 2005’s Fused.

In the video, he spoke of 2025’s highs and lows, including the rerelease of Sabbath’s Eternal Idol, working with Robbie Williams, and the Ozzy farewell show that took place shortly before the Prince of Darkness’ passing.

“2025 for me started off really well…Eternal Idol came out, and shortly after that I was asked…to play on a track with Robbie. [To] which, of course, I said, ‘Yes, that would be great!’ As far as I was concerned it was going to be an album track, but then Robbie released it as a single, which is even better…It was really good fun for me to do that.”

On the Back to the Beginning show in Birmingham, U.K., he said “the amount of bands that turned up to support Sabbath was amazing…It’s just unfortunate and sad that Ozzy passed away a couple of weeks after that. May he rest in peace.”

And of course, he confirmed his plans for this year, saying, “in 2026 I shall have—definitely, definitely—my solo album out. I’m really looking forward to that. I’ve enjoyed doing it and it’s been great fun…I really hope you enjoy it.”

Rolling back to ’81

We’re taking a look back to the start of an epic year. From sports feats to box office hits, we’ve got a set of 10 awesome questions in today’s trivia all about the first week of January 1981.

Complete the game and earn a shot at a $25 eGift Card ;)

Winner will be notified on Tuesday afternoon. Keep an eye on your inbox and don’t forget to check your spam folder!*