## US Stocks Retreat Significantly but End-of-Year Rebound Expectations Remain, Crypto Cold Snap Blows Toward Tech Stocks **S&P 500 and Nasdaq Close Lower, Dow Jones Industrial Average Drops Over 0.9%** The US stock market entered December with a correction, with all three major indices declining simultaneously. As of Monday's close, the S&P 500 fell 0.53% to 6,812.63, the Nasdaq declined 0.38% to 23,275.92, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average experienced the largest drop, falling 427.09 points to 47,289.33. This broke the previous five-day winning streak, indicating a clear shift in market sentiment at the start of the month. The core drivers of market volatility come from multiple directions. The sharp decline in cryptocurrencies directly impacted the Tech Stocks and growth sectors, while rising US Treasury yields suppressed "bond-like sectors" such as real estate and utilities. Investors are broadly focusing on next week's Federal Reserve policy meeting, expecting the central bank to make decisions amid weak economic data. ### Weak Economic Data Continues Manufacturing Slump The latest US Institute for Supply Management (ISM) survey further confirms market concerns about economic outlook. **US manufacturing contracted for the ninth consecutive month in November, with PMI falling from 48.7 to 48.2**, well below the expansion-contraction threshold of 50, indicating factory activity remains sluggish. Tariffs continue to weigh heavily on manufacturing. Companies face not only declining orders but also ongoing import cost pressures that push up production expenses. **ISM's prices paid index rose to 58.5**, suggesting ongoing upside risks to commodity prices, which interfere with inflation expectations. Employment data is similarly bleak. **Factory employment has contracted for ten consecutive months**, with many transportation equipment manufacturers announcing "more permanent changes," including layoffs and shifting some production overseas. This indicates companies no longer see the current difficulties as temporary. ### Crypto Assets Plunge Triggers Chain Reactions **Bitcoin dropped over 8% intraday, briefly falling below $84,000**, marking its worst single-day performance since March. Latest data shows Bitcoin's price is consolidating around $87,600. Ethereum and Solana also performed poorly, with declines close to 10%, with Ethereum at around $2,950 and Solana dropping to $122.95. The crypto crash is not an isolated event, hiding structural risks behind it. **The open interest in Bitcoin perpetual contracts is approximately $787 billion**, compared to only about $135 billion in ETF leverage. This means high leverage positions continue to accumulate within exchanges, with about $400 million in concentrated liquidations on Monday reflecting this risk. Some exchanges offer leverage up to 200x, where any price correction could trigger massive forced liquidations. The retail nature of crypto markets further amplifies volatility—when retail investors panic and sell collectively, chain reactions quickly spread to Tech Stocks. Grayscale's on-chain data shows open interest in perpetual contracts is decreasing, with trading volume slowing down, indicating a cooling of speculative sentiment and shrinking risk appetite. The crypto asset correction has already created a clear "spillover effect," becoming a significant short-term drag on the performance of Tech Stocks. ### Tech Sector Divergence Intensifies, Structural Opportunities Emerge Despite the overall market pressure, there is a clear divergence within the Tech sector. **Nvidia rose over 1% against the trend**, continuing to solidify its position as a favorite among retail investors and a leading Tech stock. Its steady performance boosts market confidence. Conversely, previously high-flying AI supply chain companies experienced profit-taking. **Broadcom and Super Micro Computer both fell more than 2%**, reflecting cautious investor sentiment toward overvalued and rapidly rising niche sectors. Interestingly, **Synopsys surged significantly**, driven by Nvidia's announcement of large investments to strengthen its strategic position in semiconductor design software. This indicates market funds are shifting from broad "AI concept stocks" toward more core, competitive, and certain targets. ### Retail Sector Shines Against the Odds, Year-End Consumption Potential Unfolds Amid the overall market downturn, the retail sector performed remarkably well. **Walmart and Home Depot both rose**, with the retail-focused XRT ETF gaining nearly 1%, and a five-day increase exceeding 7%. The holiday shopping season is in full swing. Adobe Analytics projects consumers will spend $14.2 billion online on "Cyber Monday," providing ongoing support for retail companies. This suggests that despite macroeconomic uncertainties, consumer purchasing power remains relatively intact. ### High-Price Stocks Continue to Hit New Highs, Market Structure Remains Resilient Notably, even as the market corrects, **12 stocks within the S&P 500 hit 52-week highs, with 8 reaching all-time highs**. This phenomenon demonstrates that internal structural strength in US stocks persists, and there is no widespread risk aversion. Among the new highs are General Motors (first to break its IPO high), Monster Beverage, Walmart, Synchrony Financial, C.H. Robinson, Cummins, Analog Devices, and Steel Dynamics. In contrast, only Copart among the S&P 500 components hit a 52-week low. This high degree of divergence indicates that, despite the market correction, active capital rotation is underway, shifting from high-risk assets to more certain targets. ### Fed Rate Cut Probability Remains High, Year-End Seasonal Factors Support **CME FedWatch tool shows an 85% market probability of a 25 bps rate cut by the Fed in December**. Although Goldman Sachs economists suggest internal dissent might lead to a "hawkish cut" (cutting but hinting at a possible pause in easing), the overall expectation for easing remains dominant. Market observers believe the current environment is in a "digestive phase," but supporting factors still exist. First, a high probability of rate cuts provides policy support; second, continued easing of inflation offers valuation support for stocks. Historically, **since 1950, December has been the third-best month for the S&P 500, with an average gain of over 1%**. Despite short-term volatility, year-end seasonal factors and policy support could create opportunities for a market rebound. The gloom of a major US stock decline has not entirely obscured the market outlook. The emergence of structural opportunities combined with seasonal factors at year-end offers investors new perspectives. The key is to identify certainty amid volatility and seek rotation opportunities during adjustments.

There is a particularly interesting phenomenon— as blockchain becomes more deeply integrated into real-world assets, oracles are becoming increasingly critical. Think about it: no matter how elegant the smart contract code is, without truly trustworthy external data inputs, it’s just building castles in the air. The APRO project seems to have found a relatively novel solution. Their hybrid architecture design is quite innovative. It doesn’t follow the traditional path of pure decentralization, nor does it rely on a single data source. Instead, it employs a dual-layer network combining off-chain data collection nodes with on-chain aggregation verification. To give an analogy, it’s like setting up multiple security checks at highway entrances—each data packet must pass through physical collection, network transmission, and verification filtering layers, ensuring multiple levels of scrutiny. This design essentially says: trust isn’t built overnight; it requires repeated confirmation from multiple dimensions. The most eye-catching technical feature is their AI anomaly detection system. It monitors information flows from over 1,400 data sources in real-time, automatically sniffing out price volatility anomalies and signs of data tampering. For example, if local housing prices suddenly spike, violating economic principles, the system immediately triggers secondary verification by cross-referencing satellite remote sensing data and local real estate transaction platform data. This multi-dimensional validation mechanism leaves little room for fraudsters. Looking at the ecosystem layout, the project’s backers are quite formidable. Support from top-tier institutions like Polychain Capital and Franklin Templeton not only brings funding but also connects traditional financial data channels. The partnership with MyStonks is particularly convincing—after integrating authoritative data sources from the US Treasury and stock markets, they keep the RWA tokenization oracle error rate within 0.3%. This level is among the best in the same track. The network coverage has expanded to over 40 public blockchains, from major chains like Ethereum and Solana to various emerging ecosystems. In the gaming sector, it provides real-time item price data for popular projects like Axie Infinity, helping players avoid market manipulation; in DeFi, it is deeply integrated with protocols like Aave and Compound, ensuring lending and borrowing rates always reflect the true market situation. This cross-chain compatibility allows applications across different ecosystems to access suitable data interfaces. Security design is also noteworthy. The entire system operates on a decentralized node operator network with a dynamic staking mechanism. Each data request is randomly assigned to 21 nodes for synchronized verification, with node staked tokens and service quality directly linked. If a node submits abnormal data three times in a row, the system automatically deducts its stake and reorganizes the verification cluster. This self-correcting mechanism effectively maintains the overall health of the network. Community feedback shows that developers have contributed over 200 data validation plugins. Recently launched “Data Sandbox” feature allows project teams to test oracle responses in isolated environments. This innovative tool has shortened the onboarding cycle of new protocols by 60%. Watching the daily increase in application cases on the ecosystem map, it’s clear that this project is evolving into a foundational infrastructure-level presence in the blockchain world. Honestly, the APRO team’s ability to integrate various technologies is quite impressive. They neither blindly pursue extreme decentralization at the expense of efficiency nor lower security standards for commercial gains. This balance is rare in the crypto space. While many projects are still debating which path oracles should take, they have already proven through practice that a well-designed architecture can fully achieve both security and performance. This oracle, deeply embedding blockchain into the real world, is redefining the trust mechanism of the digital age. How it will develop in the future, we’ll just have to wait and see.