The BP oil spill has been a non-stop news item and most people are probably tired of hearing and reading about this environmental disaster due to corporate negligence. I am not going to delve into the issue, but it was kind of morbid to read that people and companies are actually making money from this tragedy and government ineptitude. No doubt the affected have been hit hard but a select few are making some serious money (the dark site of capitalism). Here are a few that I have read about. Feel free to leave a comment for any other’s you have heard about. To me, the only redeeming aspect of making money from the disaster is if the benefactors give some or most of it back to the impacted folks.
Oil Spill T-Shirts and Merchandise – One guy sold a 1000 T-shirts at $9.95 a pop on Monday after the oil spill hit national headlines. By now he has probably sold thousands more and raked in a nice fortune. But the competition isn’t far behind with a Google search revealing lots of oil spill related t-shirts and related products now on sale across the Web, taking aim at BP and its “responsibility” pledges. There’s tote bags, buttons/badges and coffee mugs on every e-tail site with a PayPal button. I just hope some of the proceeds are going to a good cause!
Wall Street Fat Cats trading BP and implicated companies stock – Whether stocks go up or down, professional Wall street traders love volatility and can make ton’s of money shorting stocks on the way down. Watching CNBC’s fast money show is a good example of this where some of the traders say “buy”, while the other half say “sell”. My advice is stay far away from BP stock. Much better to give the money you are bound to lose to relief causes and sleep better at night.