Deep in his chair, Russ stared into the flame and puffed at his pipe.
"The factory wants more money on the spaceship,” said Greg from the other chair. “I had to put up some more shares as collateral on a new loan."
"Market still going down?” asked Russ.
"Not the market,” replied Greg. “My stocks. All of them hit new lows today."
Russ dragged at the pipe thoughtfully. “I've been thinking about that stock business, Greg."
"So have I, but it doesn't seem to do much good."
"Look,” said Russ slowly, “what planets have exchanges?"
"All of them except Mercury. The Jovian exchange is at Ranthoor. There's even one out at Pluto. Just mining and chemical shares listed, though."
Russ did not reply. Smoke curled up from his pipe. He was staring into the fire.
"Why do you ask?” Greg wanted to know.