"People's misery makes capitalists' superprofit," said one critic.

Russia's war on Ukraine has wreaked havoc on global commodity markets, driving up energy and food prices and exacerbating hunger emergencies around the world. "We're in a market where speculators are driving prices up."

But while disastrous for the global poor—millions of whom are living on the brink of famine—the chaos has been a major boon for Wall Street giants, according to new data showing that the world's 100 largest banks are on pace to smash commodity trading profit records this year.