TRADER TIPS
COLLECTION OF TIPS by Lorzec
Import: Market is buying. Futures offered Long
Export: Market is selling. Futures offered Short.
Shorts never buy.
Longs usually do not sell.
Futures have NOTHING to do with commodity list prices.
Math: If Futures offered is Long and <c price commodity> says the market is buying, then you take the market buying price and divide it by 0.9. This will give you the "math price."
If Futures offered is Short and <c price commodity> says the market is selling, then you take the market selling price and divide it by 1.1. This will give you the "math price."
If Futures offered is Short and <c price commodity> says the market is buying, don’t bother with it.
If Futures offered is Long and <c price commodity> says the market is selling, then you take the market selling price and divide it by 1.1. This will give you the "math price."
"Market Price" is only used by traders to find the "math price".
"Math Price" will sometimes come out in decimals. Ignore them, only use the whole numbers.
Factories, and especially Merchants, can affect the market when they buy / sell. This can make the market volatile.
Long Future offerings that have a market selling tend to be volatile.
Both the market as well as the Futures offered change as time goes by. So, it is necessary to monitor / watch your futures contracts.
Spreads: The range between the Futures offered price and the "math price." Obviously higher spreads are more valuable.
Some people are content with the minimum Spread needed to get a Trader Point (explained below), which is a spread of 4. However, generally speaking you should look for Spreads with a minimum of 8 – 12. This is the "safer" range than 4 because if the Spread changes drastically you may yet get Trader Points from the 8 – 12 range but might not in the 4-ish range.
For all intents and purposes, 1 Trader Point is awarded upon liquidation <liquidate commodity> for every 4 Spread points relative to the given Futures offering price.
<di futures> / <di futures planet> update hourly only. As such, it is only "good" to use it to "monitor" large Spreads and should not be relied upon too heavily, especially not for small Spreads.
When you "sell" <liquidate commodity> a futures contract, you are given igs and Trader Points are based solely upon the current Futures offering price. This may be a different total number than <di futures> tells you!
Trader Points are awarded (or penalized) on every 1000 above (or below) the 4000 margin of the initial investment.
So, if you had a futures contract with a margin of 6000 (2000 above the 4000 initial investment margin), upon liquidation (and assuming the current futures offering would also give you 6000 upon liquidation), you would receive 2000 igs and 2 Trader Points.
You also receive your original 4000 investment which will come across as + 6000 igs in your score, but is really only a 2000 ig net profit. Trader Points are explained below, but you would receive 2 Trader Points in this example.
It is, however, possible to lose igs and Trader Points as shown in the following example: If you had a futures contract with a margin of 2000 (which is below the 4000 initial investment margin), upon liquidation (again assuming the current futures offering would give you 2000 upon liquidation), you would receive 2000 igs and lose 2 Trader Points.
You receive your initial investment margin of 4000, less the 2000 loss giving you a net loss of 2000 igs. Again, Trader Points are explained below, but you would lose 2 Trader points.
It is possible to have negative Trader Points.
How Trader Points Work: Trader Points are given (or taken away) on a system solely based on "whole" 1000’s.
So, if upon liquidation you have a margin of 4225 you merely gain 225 igs and NO Trader Points. This is because although 4225 is more than 4000 it is not 1000 more. All initial investment margins start at 4000, so the units will always only be given in 1000’s.
IGs are independent of the 1000 system, so you get the value (or loss) of the amount listed no matter what.
Again, on the flip side, Trader Points can be taken away on the system of 1000’s.
If, upon liquidation, you have a margin of 3775 you not only net lose 225 igs but also lose 1 Trader Point. This is because 3775 is less than 4000, even though it is "only" 225 less.
Margin Calls: Margin Calls happen when the margin reaches 2000. You are automatically docked 4 Trader Points.
If you were to liquidate upon getting the Margin Call you would lose the 2 Trader Points for having a loss of the initial investment margin as well as the 4 for the Margin Call itself, for a net loss of 6 Trader Points.
Futures are "automatically liquidated" in two instances:
1) The first is after a Margin Call occurs and the futures offering price costs additionally. The futures contract is automatically liquidated and the ig loss and Trader Point loss occur at the same time.
It is possible to receive a Margin Call yet hold the futures contract on the hope that it will "bounce back," in which case whenever you liquidate or the game automatically liquidates (see 2nd instance), you may equal out or supercede the net ig and net Trader Point losses. If it equals out you are penalized nothing beyond the Margin Call cost.
It is also possible to come out "ahead," however you will still have lost the 4 Trader Points for the Margin Call.
2) Any futures contracts in your possession are automatically liquidated upon server maintenance, at 8.00am eastern.
