I did my last trade on Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) today. It's only a around ~90$ of net gains starting from a 1k$ loss. I do swing trading. I started the year with losses figuring out what works and gradually recovered in the middle of the year.
There are no stop losses in PSE. It's not a liquid market compared to US stocks, FX, and crypto. SEC managed to end the year blocking access to international markets so traders here have to resort to using VPN for that. It's for investor protection but I see it as just trying to restrict money from flowing out since there's not really much trades to be done at the local scene.
Most wouldn't really bat an eye here since it's only those that know how to trade/invest really care about what this means. In a country with low financial literacy levels, this news is just background noise. But I like the challenge of investing in hard mode. Accessing the international markets (except crypto) is on the to do list once I start doing better trades.
I find the habit of looking at charts, making trade plans, and learning about investing fulfilling because it's a real world skill. The market gives you an immediate feedback if you did something right.
The goals for next year is to improve what I learned from this year. This year was dedicated learning the process than focus on the result of winning trades. I'll be focusing on risk management more and grow my account. I'll do this while grinding through my day job.
Note to the future self: Beware of hindsight bias.
Just thinking out loud.
Thanks for your time.