Is there any way to figure out what your actual transactions

[H Gilmer3]

were in the previous turn that caused the current balance?

In the B screen and the F4 screen, it tells me I'll GAIN 190 capital. In reality, I lose 31. That's a 221 swing. And I bought absolutely nothing. I have nothing against some mystery, but a 221 swing is a little drastic, especially without knowing why it happened.

[Sir Garnet]

The F4 report and Asset Balance are projections. Under the latest patch, you can check the historic balances for past turns in the tooltip on the first row and the net transaction balances for that item in past turns on the third (Trade) row. The Industry symbol in the log will show you only economic messages, including a transaction by transaction report on what you bought and what you sold, as well as other economic information including the total purchases and total sales abroad as well as internal market and colonial sales. Your T transaction window for your capital will show your sales orders and those for other trade areas show your buy orders in the those areas - orders placed automatically through the Asset Balance or precisely by you in the T transaction window for the seller.

If you lost 221 capital and bought nothing - not merchandise, not buildings, etc. then you probably used capital in industry to make merchandise that was unsold and therefore piled up as inventory. It would be unsold abroad because you did not place sale orders or there was not enough interest in buying. It wouild be unsold at home because your setting on the 4th row of F4 allowed very little to be sold or the public just was not interested.

As discussed in the manual, if you are the only human player, you are primarily responsible for proactively trading as middleman to enhance the world economy. You are the motor of the world.

[Jim-NC]

The following is in addition to what Sir Garnet says,

The game engine assumes a percentage of your transactions will be made (it normally starts at 100%). So for example, if you want to sell 10 coal at $2 per unit, the game will show you making a profit of $20. If you only really sell 2, then your profit will be $4 (or a swing of $16). The other 18 units goes into inventory. There is a slider that allows you to set a % of transactions that will be used to determine your balance on the F4 screen (one slider for selling, and one for buying). Unfortunately they apply to all transactions, not just some. So you might be selling 100% of coal, but 0% of gems. If the coal is at $2, and the gems are at $30, this can have a large effect on your commerce.

Look at the balances and the amount bought/sold on the F4 screen.

[H Gilmer3]

Thanks for replies. I'll try all that. It feels like I'm chasing a phantom number because when I run a surplus, I bump selling that item but not as much as the surplus but next turn I'm running negative.

Example:

Balance of item 100
Production 40
Selling 20
New Balance s/b 120 (and that is what it says in the "B" screen)

So, I say great and click to sell 10 more in the "T" screens.

Next turn my balance is going down. on the B screen. Somehow. But, I'll give it a try.

[H Gilmer3]

I know my great merchants just imported 0 Silk for 75 pounds.

[H Gilmer3]

That's helped a little bit. I have sold more. I've been letting some stocks stockpile. I'm selling them down some.

[Sir Garnet]

I know my great merchants just imported 0 Silk for 75 pounds.

Those businessmen engage in wild speculative ventures when there is too much idle Private Capital sloshing around in your economy. Though coming home with zero I've not seen since before the patch, when you would get nothing from their ventures. Look at modern finance and reflect on how lucky we are in the 19th century!

[Jim-NC]

I can see your point, as I've gotten 32 gems for 1,700 pounds, which equates to over 50 pounds per gem. Then next round it's 33 opium for 1750.

I like it (this feature), as I was just wasting that money before this last patch (it was consumed in "new business emergence"), now at least I get something out of it. And my state funds went up so nicely after I converted those gems! This round I will opiate the masses, I can't wait to see how much contentment goes up!

[H Gilmer3]

Yeah, I'm getting the Opium as well. Sometimes it's a good deal like 7 gems for 75. But, other times it is a bad deal such as 2 gems for 75. Or, of course, the rare, but it has happened more than once, 0 items for 75.