Also, here's an interesting story: https://www.ft.com/content/6a09e4a6-655a-11ea-b3f3-fe4680ea6...
> French industrials group Air Liquide is selling its Schülke unit, whose products range from the alcohol-based hand rubs that have become a hot commodity since the outbreak started, to hospital disinfectants and industrial cleaning products. > > It is asking would-be buyers to offer a higher sum than it first envisaged when the sale process began last year, according to people familiar with the situation, reflecting what one person called the “coronavirus effect”.
Of course, the reason the business might be worth more is because it's going to make higher profits. In theory Air Liquide could cut prices to ensure its profits stayed the same. In fact, not doing so means they're profiting off Covid-19, right?
Which I guess suggests the real problem with what this guy did is scale; he only had a few thousand bottles. If he'd only realised he should have been buying a factory!
It is a literally textbook example in why banning derivatives is unlikely to be the easy fix some imagine for market failures.