The Daily Money: Do Harris ads masquerade as news?

Good morning! It’s Daniel de Visé with your Daily Money.

That news headline about presidential candidate Kamala Harris in your Google search results? It may have been written by her campaign. 

Harris' team has been launching sponsored posts on Google that link to real news content from various publishers but feature customized headlines and descriptions crafted by her campaign, a practice experts and Google called "common." One sponsored ad that links to NPR’s website features the headline “Harris will Lower Health Costs.” Another that links to the Associated Press reads “VP Harris’s Economic Vision - Lower Costs and Higher Wages.” The advertisements were first reported by Axios. 

Some marketing experts fear the ads could spell trouble.

How do the veep candidates manage their money?

A record 58% of Americans owned stocks in 2022, according to the Federal Reserve.

Democratic vice-presidential nominee Tim Walz was not one of them, Medora Lee reports.

In fact, Walz didn’t own many investments, based on what's been released. No stock, no bonds, no home or any other real estate. Instead, the former teacher and congressman’s assets consisted mostly of pensions, whole life insurance and college savings, a 2019 filing showed. He and his wife, Gwen, earned $166,719 before taxes in 2022.

Meanwhile, his Republican rival for the vice presidency, J.D. Vance, has a portfolio that includes stocks, real estate and cryptocurrency.

So what do financial advisers think about the two men's investment strategies?

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🍔 Today's Menu 🍔

For many Americans, McDonald's Happy Meals used to be an event. Sure, there was the food, but there were also toys like the Hamburglar and nuggets dressed like cowboys.

You never knew what you were going to get and scoring a new toy became an event: For children, that is.

Now, McDonald's is trying to tap into that energy with a grown-up version of the Happy Meal, which officially launched on Tuesday. Called Collector's Meals, the new menu item is a combo meal that comes with six unique cups.

Will adult Happy Meals release the inner child in us all?

About The Daily Money

Each weekday, The Daily Money delivers the best consumer and financial news from USA TODAY, breaking down complex events, providing the TLDR version, and explaining how everything from Fed rate changes to bankruptcies impacts you.

Daniel de Visé covers personal finance for USA Today.