.TH Command MARKET
.SY "market"
(There are two market systems available in Empire.  A compile
option determines which particular system a game will use.
Both the TELEPORT and TRADE CENTER markets are detailed here.)
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THE TELEPORT MARKET
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The market report displays the lowest-priced commodity of each
item type on the market which is not on sale by you, the selling
nation, the number of units on sale, and the price per unit.
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If a product argument is given, then a list of the prices of
that product is printed in the same way as buy.
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Note that this takes into account the multiplier from the selling
nation to your country, so the market price may vary from country
to country.
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.EX market
.NF
      -= World Commodity Market Report =-
            Mon Oct  6 10:22:09 1986
 item        cnum      country    qty     $/unit
shells       (# 3)           Oz     219  500.00
iron ore     (#12)       Idiots     696    5.00
dust (gold)  (#14)          Zyf      20  120.00
food         (# 7)        Vixen     500    0.15
light produc (# 3)           Oz     175  200.00
.FI
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See also : buy, sell, mult
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THE TRADE CENTER MARKET
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The trade center market adds more realism to the marketplace
by making it necessary for you to physically transport goods.
Each country can create trade centers (sector type \*Qx\*U),
which can then be individually opened and closed at discretion 
to any number of specific countries, and which can individually
deal in any number of specific commodities.  
The \*Qmarket\*U report displays all trade centers that are open
to do business with you, which commodities they are 
interested in buying and selling, and, for each commodity,
the quantity they want to \*Qsell\*U or \*Qbuy\*U, and the per-unit
sale price (\*Qask\*U) or buying price (\*Qbid\*U).
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The syntax for \*Qmarket\*U is:
.EX market <SECT|NAT|*|.> [COMMLIST]
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The first argument to the \*Qmarket\*U command can be a country
name or number, a realm, sector range or coordinate, a '*' indicating
all trade centers everywhere, or a '.' indicating just your own
trade centers.  In the optional second argument you can string
together a list of commodity designators to indicate the
specific commodities that you're interested in seeing.
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In order to do business with a trade center, you must physically
move a ship or other vehicle into the trade center.  For this
reason, trade center coordinates are provided (using your own
coordinate system) for each center that is open to you.  Actual
buying and selling is then performed by simply using the \*Qload\*U
and \*Qunload\*U commands; money will be automatically exchanged.
The trade center owner is notified by telegram of all transactions,
and there is never any tax or commission paid to POGO.
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Note that the asking prices take into account country price
multipliers; the asking prices may be different for sales to
another country.  Each trade center has a unique set of price
multipliers, as set by the center's owner using the \*Qopen\*U
command.
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For trade centers that you own, the market report also includes
for each commodity the center's current "have" quantity, as well
as the "min" threshold (below which it will refuse to sell) and
"max" threshold (above which it will refuse to buy).
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.EX [40:247] Command : mar * ifl
.NF

           -= World Commodity Market Report =-
                 Mon Apr  1 09:29:25 1991
item          x,y     country   sell     ask   buy     bid    min have max
iron ore     -8,-20  Samarkand
iron ore     17,-9   Krev          0     2.10  500     2.00    20    0 500
food         -8,-20  Samarkand   400     1.00
food         17,-9   Krev        350     0.95  200     1.29    50  400 600
food         62,2    Krev                      550     1.29     0   50 600
light prod   -8,-20  Samarkand                 500     5.00
light prod  -60,-56  UUCP2                     300     5.00
.FI
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See also : open, close, ask, bid, load, unload
