Ally Financial has joined the ranks of banks doing deals known as Chinese leader Xi Jinping and other top Communist Party officials used 22,000 characters in laying out a blueprint for reviving the country’s flagging economy in the coming years and signaling an intention to rev up growth in the coming months.

On some of the thorniest issues, however, the document had little new to say—fueling concern among some economists about the country’s longer-term prospects. 

The world’s second-largest economy, which saw growth slip markedly in the second quarter, is straining under the weight of $7 trillion to $11 trillion in hidden local government debt. It is also struggling to contend with a prolonged property crisis.

Below, some of the best analysis and insight from WSJ writers and columnists, the Dow Jones Newswires team and occasionally beyond, on investing, the wealth-management business and more.

Much of the money moved into IRAs misses out on market returns.

From Dow Jones Newswires

Improving real incomes mean eurozone consumer confidence should trend higher after it rose for the sixth-straight month in July, Pantheon Macroeconomics economist Melanie Debono says in a note. The few national data published so far show confidence retreated in the Netherlands and Belgium, which means it rose elsewhere, she says. "We suspect it rose particularly strongly in Spain, where history suggests confidence rises after the national football team--which just won Euro 2024--wins large competitions, and in France, now that political chaos is largely over." With wage growth likely to outstrip inflation and unemployment pinned near record lows, consumers should support spending in the coming quarters, driving GDP growth for the rest of 2024, Debono says. ([email protected])

The market pricing of European Central Bank rate cuts through the end of 2024 is largely fair but markets are too pessimistic beyond that, J.P. Morgan rates strategists say in a note. JPM expects two further quarterly reductions before the end of this year and then expects the deposit rate should reach 2% by September next year. Even if the ECB were to opt for a slower path of rate cuts this would still leave the deposit rate at 2.25%, the strategists say. Money markets by contrast price the ECB's deposit rate at 2.40% at end-2025, according to Refinitiv. ([email protected])

We’re in the early stages of the AI revolution, says The Colony Group’s Debra Brede. That bodes well for productivity, the economy, and fields such as medicine.

The strategy comes as freight rates are rising and new tariffs are set to hit some goods from China.

Agency is seeking information from eight companies about the use of AI and other tools to customize prices based on shoppers’ individual traits.

A bruising recession and the disappearance of pensions have left many young boomers financially exposed.

People are flocking to ice cream, cakes and cookies with extra protein mixed in. They don’t always need the boost.

Buy Side from WSJ: What Does Liability Insurance Cover?

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