China has become the fail-safe excuse for every bad economic indicator in the world. Among industries, autos are playing a similar role. So it should be little surprise that both have been fingered as fall guys for a slump in Germany manufacturing activity that spurred gloom over global growth and doom in financial markets. The purchasing managers’ index fell to ...

On a number of fronts in online shopping, Amazon.com Inc.’s strategy is clear and brutally effective. It is gunning for more dollars in high-margin categories such as home goods with a growing catalog of private-label items. It’s offering two-hour delivery in some markets, a speedy service few retailers are in position to match. And its popular, voice-activated Alexa devices and ...

Bloomberg US stocks advanced and bonds retreated globally as upbeat economic reports from China to Europe and renewed hopes for a Sino-US trade deal attracted investors to riskier assets. The euro and pound strengthened. The S&P 500 climbed for a fifth day, equaling the longest winning streak in two months. The Dow briefly erased gains after a gauge of US ...