Author: thehopehitman2
Citizens of the Federation fall into many categories; some call themselves politicians, others editors, but many just call themselves traders. They are attracted to the economics that drives the Federation as we know it. They eat and breathe trading and do everything they can to better themselves and become one of the elite. In the Federation the first step in becoming a decorated trader is to gain “advanced status”. This status is given to any that finish in the top 20 of any trading period. When one achieves this status they receive a golden plus to show everyone they are well capable of trading in the Federation.
I myself was seeking this advanced status a round ago, and like many traders before me it was my one and only goal. In my travels I looked at a lot of statistics to help me gauge where I stood in the Federation, what follows are some of those statistics I put together.
Over the last 20 trade periods the average net worth of 20th position was 33,676.99 ISH. This number gives new traders a number to shoot for, an estimate of what you need to achieve to get your shiny gold “+”. But it doesn’t tell you the whole story, the markets fluctuate and so do the rankings; the 20th position has finished as high as 50441.88 ISH and as low as 18023.58 ISH in those same 20 rounds.
As you can tell every trade period is different and every situation has a different outcome. The most important thing a new trader can do when trying to better their trade is network. What I mean by networking is meeting and introducing yourself to other traders. Just getting your name out there and being active in the community shows people you are taking trade seriously and can be a reliable source of products. The more contacts you have the more likely you are to get better deals and discounts where you spend most of your money. A lot of traders under estimate the power of a good discount, over a round it can save you up to 10% of the cost of a certain product you use frequently. Depending on how much you go through this can save you several thousand ISH in a single trade period, which could mean the difference in being in the top 20 or not.
The one thing a new trader cannot do is give up. It took me over ten rounds to gain my advanced status and I made a lot of mistakes along the way. But in the end those mistakes benefited me because I learned from them and made sure they never happened again. Knowledge is a traders best friend no matter what the market looks like. And for those traders on the brink of their advanced status this round, I wish you luck.