many thanks chaps, my ignorance is a thing of the past, where do get all this info? the manual? i've never looked at it but it doesn't look meaty enough to have this level of detail in? anyhow il be making more of an effort to keep my provinces in the green from now on!

since you seem to be so well versed in the mechanics of the game, why is it that sometimes other clans will trade with and sometimes not, eg: you might be very friendly with a clan but they still wont trade or only with cash incentive, i thought it might be to do with the resources, like if u had copper and they didnt say, they would be willing but if you have something that they already have then they won't trade as ports/ trade lanes are limited?
also sometime when i have provinces with a port, sometimes even a trading port no trade lane appears and i dont have the option to open trade with another clan, it says that all the trade slots in my home province are full??

cheers, if you dont have time to explain all that maybe you could put a link to somewhere for info?