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It's interesting that there's so much money to be made in the commodities. I'll have to try that out some time... My experience is that trying to make money buying low selling high has always been too slow. Probably I wasn't doing the right trading routes, but it always seemed to me that the missions paid better.
What I've found is that with small and medium-sized craft, commodities are a waste of time and energy. Missions available at the mission computer will get you more money. Depending on the run, though, a single freighter can equal or exceed what a mission computer can offer. The standard UE rush delivery will get you 12000 credits, standard deliveries are worth 5000. By contrast, a standard cargo run can net you anywhere from 30 to 220 credits per unit, even more with mining accidents, etc. Since a shuttle only has space for 20 tons of cargo, a run will only gain 600 to 4400 credits per run. A freighter has 160 cargo, meaning a run will get you anywhere from 4800 to 35,200 per run. You plus 6 freighter escorts will get 33,600 to 246,400 per run (less a couple thousand per day to pay the escorts.) A Miranu Heavy Freighter carries 500 cargo (and has 2 phase turrets.) Get 6 escorts, you're talking 105,000 to 770,000 per run, minus 75,000 per day in fees. (Trust me, it's worth it. Even after fees, you can make up to half a million per run.)
It took me probably about an hour to do enough missions and enough cargo runs to get my Miranu convoy together - all with the lowest combat rating. Don't even consider the Miranu Freighter convoy until you have 3 or 4 million credits: 6 escorts will cost you 75,000 credits per day, and you're facing about 6 days with no income. Then, you also have to buy the goods to fill their holds AND have enough money to pay them until you can land and sell your goods.
However once you have a Miranu Convoy, the money rolls in very quickly. I do the run of medical goods from New Riga in the Tulir system (900 credits) to the Ariane system. Normally, they sell for 1120 per unit, but occasionally there's a mining accident, which raises the price to 1500 per unit. So, on one run, after fees, I bring in anywhere from 500,000 to 2 million. In 20 minutes, my bank account rose from around 7 million to 20 million.
The side benefit to doing things this way is that Miranu Heavy Freighters all have two phase turrets. Sometimes renegades like to hang out in the Ariane system. Kraits don't last very long against phase turrets 
More importantly, your entire convoy puts out enough firepower that turncoats don't last more than a few seconds. Your combat rating goes up, your legal standing grows, your bank account swells. In short, with a couple hours of commodities trading, you'll be ready to take on the "starter" missions with good legal standing, good combat rating and a far better ship than you otherwise would. The key is patience. The runs are tedious, yes, but it's really nice to have enough $$$ to buy any ship in the game and any add-ons you want.
(As a side note, while the Miranu Heavy freighter stinks for missions requiring speed, it is actually quite capable as a heavy cap ship. Convert those 500 tons of cargo space into weapons space, add the 80 weapons you already have, plus the 2 turrets and 3 defence pod launchers, upgrade the rcs, thrust and engines, add some dospect armor and shield enhancers and a couple of fighter bays... the thing moves like a turtle, but it can dish out and take a LOT of punishment! The off-the-shelf-8-jump fuel capacity doesn't hurt, either.)
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..... 'course this only works if you're in a good ship, and you're a good pilot 
