X3: Albian Prelude

The Stock Exchange was added in Albian Prelude and is not available in earlier versions of the game. It is a really great way to make money quickly and progress in the game. I'm writing this guide based on my own experience, and it's by far not complete or the most comprehensive out there. Its simply what has worked for me over the years of playing the game. It is also important to note that all of the Stock Exchange's have different requirements for entry, the easiest being the Teladi Stock Exchange.

I am a big fan of the Humble Merchant Scenario, and will us it in this guide. Assuming you have started the game with this scenario and dropped in Herrons Nebula with your Mercury and Discoverer ships. I'll leave how you play this scenario to another guide, but the first thing you'll need to do is make the 10,000cr fee to get access to the Teladi Stock Exchange and then some money to buy stocks. I like to do some simple trading in the safety of Argon space for this, before venturing to Teladi space and the Stock Market. It's also important to equip your ship with the Trading System Extension so you can trade stocks without being docked at the station. It also lets you use SETA to speed up time while waiting for your stocks to climb.

Once you've got the credits, start heading to Seizewell where the Teladi Stock Exchange is. When you dock at the Teladi Stock Exchange you will be prompted to pay the fee when you try and access it. Say “ok” to this and you are in!

The concept of any Stock Exchange is to buy low and sell high. That's the basic idea here too, but only certain goods fluctuate in price depending on the demand for the particular race.

Wait for the price to be near the MIN level, and buy as much as you can, then when the price goes up, sell it. Its as simple as that. The old X3 Wiki had this to say about the Stock Exchange in general.

“The stock exchange reflects what is made in the area. A Boron area will not likely be using meat steaks, so there should be no demand. Know your area of space.”

“Watch fluctuations over time before buying. Some products will go from an index of 130 to 30, which is 70 points of profit. Others may go from 50 to 10 regularly. These will both gain you cash if you buy at their high points and sell at their low points. Doing this will let you know what to invest in.”

“This exchange works better for someone who is a day trader, where you buy and sell constantly.”