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Banks led the S&P 500 to its biggest gain in two weeks on Monday as investors found bargains after last week’s unpleasantness. More than 10 stocks were higher on the benchmark for every one that fell. HSBC added almost 9% after its biggest shareholder raised its stake and an index of lenders rose the most in a month. And while Wall Street worries about what the next month or so will bring, Citigroup says no matter what the result is on (or after) Nov. 3, there will be a definite buy. —David E. Rovella

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Here are today’s top stories

New York is seeing a quickening uptick in coronavirus infections while cases in the U.S. have stopped falling from their summer highs, when Covid-19 raged across the South and West. The White House is promising quicker coronavirus tests while Dr. Anthony Fauci sees certain treatments as a bridge to any eventual vaccine. Confirmed U.S. infections and deaths, still the most of any country and about one-fifth of the global total, exceed 7.1 million and 204,000, respectively. In Europe, Germany could face more than 19,000 new cases a day by Christmas, Chancellor Angela Merkel warned, while France marked the first decline in new cases since August. Russia is also seeing a resurgence of cases, and Moscow has started to reopen temporary hospital wards. In Italy, though, case numbers dropped. Here is the latest on the pandemic.

President Donald Trump paid no income taxes in 10 of the past 15 years and only $750 in 2016 and 2017, according to a bombshell report in New York Times. The revelations renewed scrutiny of the Republican’s personal finances just weeks ahead of Election Day, and days before his first debate with former Vice President Joe Biden. Biden’s campaign quickly attacked the billionaire real estate developer, touting a new campaign bumper sticker, “I Paid More In Taxes Than Donald Trump.” The report also raised fresh questions about Trump’s business savvy and the integrity of his accounting. The newspaper portrayed the president as being in a financial vise, one that could make him turn to investments that could threaten his independence as commander-in-chief. As for when he is out of office, Trump could be facing some serious legal problems.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the White House will have to agree to “much more” spending for a second bailout if there is any hope of striking a deal before the election. Meanwhile, with massive airline cuts looming as cash from the first bailout expires, United Airlines pilots agreed to accept lower minimum pay guarantees to prevent almost 4,000 of their members from being put on furlough.

Fighting between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces raged for a second day as Russia and Turkey took sharply different positions on the renewal of the decades-old conflict.

An image from the Armenian military purporting to show its forces destroying an Azerbaijani tank at the contact line of the self-proclaimed Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The world’s first shipment of blue ammonia is on its way from Saudi Arabia to Japan, where it will be used in power stations to produce electricity without carbon emissions.

After the troubles at Nikola, you’d think stock market investors would have had their fill of startups that promise to revolutionize the trucking world, Chris Bryant writes in Bloomberg Opinion. Yet this week another Texas-based truck electrification business, whose founder is even younger than Nikola’s, is poised to go public. And once again, a special-purpose acquisition vehicle is in the driver’s seat and making piles of money.

Uber is considering a purchase of Daimler and BMW’s ride-hailing joint venture, Free Now, in a deal that could boost its market share in Europe and Latin America.

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How Bats Can Help You Find the Best Bordeaux

Over the past year, bats have gone from unloved animal to devastating threat, thanks to their suspected role as the original carriers of Covid-19. Yet in Bordeaux, one of the world’s top wine regions, they’re being welcomed as heroes.

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The Year Ahead Revisited: Vikram Pandit Presents The Road to Resilience. How has the global pandemic permanently changed the face of the financial workforce? How are executives handling disruptive innovation to build resilient flows of resources amid global turmoil? Join us on Oct. 1 and be a part of this crucial discussion led by the former Citigroup CEO, now chairman and CEO of The Orogen Group. Register here.

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