Good one for starting traders who want a decent, short and profitable trip:
Take MOX from Trenton Outpost to Baltimore Shipyard
Take Scientists from Baltimore Shipyard to Planet Manhattan
The trip from Trenton to Baltimore is one if not the most profitable in game if you look at the time/profit. It makes you around 200k profit on 1000 cargo for a 2 minute trip (distance is 80k total). Not to mention that its in the New York system and its one lane (Manhattan > ford bush) so the chance of being pirated there is very minimal.
pro's:
+ fast
+ good profit margin
+ safe
con's:
- There are better routes that make more profit
- Boring.. while safe just flying up and down one lane gets boring
- No big gratification after travelling all over the universes, with the fear of being pirated at any time and then seeing the big cash profit at the end.