During this oil/LNG/fertilizer supply crisis, are there any people in America who are doing better than ever/making bank?
Posted by BaldursGate2Best@reddit | AskAnAmerican | View on Reddit | 62 comments
So there is this massive oil crisis around the world due to the strait of Hormuz closure. But are there any people in America who are doing better than ever? People who are "making bank" at a massive scale? Like their investments/bank accounts are doing just fine?
damutecebu@reddit
To be fair, many (if not most) Americans are doing just fine. We don't fully understand how this is impacting the rest of the world. Yes our gas prices have gone up, but most here seem to be making it work without significant changes.
ImNotToby@reddit
Speak for yourself. This is what we call living in a bubble. The 4 people you might talk to are doing fine. There are plenty of Americans who are struggling. The price of gas has up ended many people's budgets. Some people can't afford to travel to work. Check to check individuals are really hurting. People are losing jobs.
But yeah, everyone's doing fine. I didn't get to take the boat out all day on Friday! We had to cut it short. /s
damutecebu@reddit
Is reading usually a problem for you? I never once said "everyone's doing fine." I said "many here seem to be making it work." Is that wrong?
ImNotToby@reddit
No not at all. "If not most," no most Americans are not doing fine. Just because you added reasonable doubt by saying "if" does not negate the fact you come off as completely tone deaf to the actual situation based on personal circumstances. Most people assume they have it worse than everybody else. This has the same energy as "just buy a house."
damutecebu@reddit
Right. I added reasonable doubt by saying "if." That's exactly what I was doing...you know...using the English language to its fullest. And neither you nor I actually know if "most" Americans are doing "fine."
rockinaforest@reddit
Yes, we do know that. I lived in a country where most weren’t doing fine and it’s very visible. It might not be smart to say ALL Americans are doing fine but it’s 99% safe to say MOST Americans are doing fine brother.
damutecebu@reddit
Right. And I didn't even say that! I said "many (if not most)." Many doesn't even imply a majority.
mickeltee@reddit
Conveniently leaves out “many (if not most) Americans are doing just fine.”
damutecebu@reddit
Am I wrong?
mickeltee@reddit
Yes
damutecebu@reddit
Nope. Nice try.
rockinaforest@reddit
Because that’s true? Most Americans are doing fine
BaldursGate2Best@reddit (OP)
Interesting, what parts of the world do you think are affected worse than the US? And why?
Popular-Local8354@reddit
A lot of Asia is dependent on imported fuel and fertilizer.
Australia is already discussing fuel rationing.
WulfTheSaxon@reddit
Parts of Asia are already rationing fuel and facing actual energy shortages, not just higher prices. There aren’t enough ships to handle the increased ton-miles of moving oil from further away, and this can be seen in West Texas oil trading at a discount versus Brent most days. Any net exporter is getting hit less in the first place, and then making bank on exports on top of that (in fact, to a large extent oil and refined products export quotas could be set and then prices would go back to normal for exporters, at the expense of forgoing extra revenue and hurting other countries).
This is especially true for countries that used Qatari LNG, because LNG is a market where all the export capacity is spoken for well in advance and trying to buy it on short notice is crazy expensive.
damutecebu@reddit
Many Asian and African countries who rely completely on imported fuel, and don't have large stockpiles, are rationing energy.
butter_milk@reddit
Yes Asia is not doing well: https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/10/world/us-asia-allies-energy-security-intl-hnk?cid=external-feeds_iluminar_msn
SVAuspicious@reddit
Politicians across the political spectrum. CA politicians are doing particularly well.
danhm@reddit
It's not as bad here since we have our own oil and especially LNG to use. Gas is about twice as much as it was at this time last year but even today's price is still much less than almost everywhere else in the world.
Efficient-Panic3506@reddit
America is cushioned a bit because we produce a lot of our own oil and gas. Higher prices suck here, but in some import-dependent countries it becomes an actual “can factories stay open?” problem.
Dr_MJI@reddit
I have to fly alot for work (on the company dime), it might not be what you consider making bank, but airline status has been so much easier to get this year due to the prices.
BaldursGate2Best@reddit (OP)
I am sorry if I am stupid or missing something obvious but what is airline status? I have never heard of it... I don't live in the USA.
Dr_MJI@reddit
When you fly enough on an airline you get free upgrades and things like that. Alot of them are now based on how much money you spend.
misagale@reddit
Ice Agents. Senators doing insider trading. Elon Musk. Jeff Bezos. Palantir. Donald Trump. The Trump children.
give_me_goats@reddit
Definitely not in the “making bank / 150k per day” class, but my husband owns mineral rights in the Permian basin (split with 11 other relatives), and his producing wells have been popping off lately with higher prices plus they’re drilling more, so the added extra income is/will be pretty nice. His stocks are also doing well, but those aren’t accessible day to day so it doesnt mean much. With how expensive everything has gotten, though, the extra $ just means the price increases don’t affect us much. We are not living in luxury by any means.
dimap443@reddit
The banks and oil companies
emmasdad01@reddit
As usual
NoCoversJustBooks@reddit
Banks are being treated with FAR less scrutiny than in my 20+ year career as a regulator/consultant/banker.
The numbers back it up. Trump’s admin hasn’t fined a single OCC regulated bank in 1.5 years. Unprecedented.
rrsafety@reddit
Dumb comment. “As usual” is historically ignorant as there are many time when banks and oil companies are the WORST to own.
ReallyDustyCat@reddit
And everybody working corporate/salaried for retail stores. My wife just got a first really big bonus, and then the tarrifs are set to be returned to the stores that paid them. So basically anything that went up in price for shoppers in the last two years didn't really have to be increased in price....all those companies made more money than ever using rising gas and tarrifs as the context.
OldDude1391@reddit
And people who own stock in banks and oil companies. Which means anyone with a 401k, 401a,403b, pension or any other type of retirement plan.
nkyguy1988@reddit
The stock market is up 9% year to date 4% or so in the last month. That's about a 48% annualized rate for the last month when the average is about 11% per year. Been pretty good for investors recently. How long that lasts...who knows.
ActiveDinner3497@reddit
That being said, the last 9 months of 2025 were a stock shit show with people either staying steady or losing money. This affected everything from individual stocks to 401ks. So I see the 9% as just getting us back to where we should have been last year.
rrsafety@reddit
Ridiculous comment. 401ks designed for retirement investments have been on an unrelenting four year bull run.
JoeInMD@reddit
Completely false!
April 1 S&P 500 value: 5,633
Decent 31 S&P 500 value: 6,845
Percent gain over those 9 months: 21.5%
Curmudgy@reddit
What about the indecent S&P?
(Don’t you just hate auto-miscorrect?)
JoeInMD@reddit
Ha! That was a Decent return, so I'm leaving it!
The indecent S&P was 2022. It's been very Decent ever since!
WulfTheSaxon@reddit
The market went up 24% in the last 9 months of 2025. There was a bad period from around late February to early April of 2025, but it was back to all time highs by late June.
Lance-Boyle-666@reddit
My 401k is up almost 50% in the past year. My IRAs are up about 12%. However, that doesn't help me day to day.
TempusSolo@reddit
Exactly. My little retirement accounts are having a good 11 weeks
Brewer1056@reddit
There a little known family that's killing it. Rhymes with Dump.
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0le_Hickory@reddit
People complain but our prices aren’t really that insane. It’s been here before. The cost per mile is still very affordable to drive in the US.
mofugly13@reddit
I'm convinced that every move Trump makes is to manipulate the market and make money for him and his cronies. Of course someone is getting rich
TopOrganization4920@reddit
Exxon the largest US oil producer, processor, transporter, etc. they are vertically integrated is struggling because of existing contracts and it’s profit margins are only 5% versus the standard 8 to 10%
Duque_de_Osuna@reddit
Prices were high before this, now they are higher. It is not just gasoline, it is anything that is transported on a truck.
SonOfMotherlesssGoat@reddit
Trump, Musk and billionaires seem to be doing well
Wild-Bill-H@reddit
DJT!
ResearchWarrior316@reddit
Market is doing great. Yeah, fueling up at the pump is a little more but I’ll take the trade.
chongjin@reddit
Yes anyone who owns stocks
MorrowPlotting@reddit
When oil prices go up, bad guys profit. The Russians. The Saudis. Texas Republicans.
lumpialarry@reddit
Houston is going to have record Ford Raptor sales in March of next year.
S_Wow_Titty_Bang@reddit
My retirement has never been better. It took a big hit last spring, but completely recovered and then some. I tried to ask my finance bro bestie why that was, but didn't really understand the answer.
For gas specifically, it's up about 50 cents/ gallon above the baseline in my area, so it works out to be about an extra 7 dollars/week for me to fill up.
TheBimpo@reddit
Yeah, the upper class is killing it, those with the most invested in the market.
Snoo_50786@reddit
ive made a good few thousand off of throwing money at the market every time it seems like things are about to get REALLY bad - but then not too much happens and the market rebounds.
Idk, if it ever got so bad to where i felt the need to pull out all my money then there'd probably be much bigger problems to where i wouldnt be worrying about my portfolio. so there isnt a reason in my mind to not throw money in if you have some to do that with.
donac@reddit
The Trump family.
Dignam3@reddit
If the majority of your assets are in stocks, you are doing well. If you don't make enough to save a substantial amount, you are hurting as prices keep increasing.
Salty_Dog2917@reddit
Yeah. The oil/gas companies, the people who own the land as they get a percentage of every barrel. The businesses around those industries. Just like all over the world
Semirhage527@reddit
Yes. Absolutely. It’s been a fantastic time to make money in the market.
Especially for the politicians
Sea-Bill78@reddit
Yes, check out Trumps recent portfolio trades in the market. K shaped economy right now, Rich is getting richer.
AveragefootSasquatch@reddit
Weird, it’s the people who donated the most to the president’s vanity…
Adorable-East-2276@reddit
The oil industry and military contractors seem to be doing well