I invested in wine through the Bordeaux Wine Company which has collapsed. I have now been contacted by Empire Investment Capital Limited, which says it has a buyer for my wine.

The oil giant faces mounting pressure to sell its stake in Russian energy giant Rosneft as it embarks on a major strategy overhaul to prop up its dividend payouts.

Investment experts are predicting 2020 will be a prosperous year for many UK firms, despite tough Brexit trade negotiations beginning.

Nero fiddled, while Rome burned. Or to put the expression in a modern day investment context, Christopher Hill (chief executive of Hargreaves Lansdown) fiddles while investors get burnt.

Global Wine Exchange sold me two cases of wine on the promise that they would be sold at a profit. They haven't been sold. GWE then told me that if I bought two more cases, they would sell all four.

Investing can seem like an intimidating business.But there is no reason to be put off: a nimble, beginner investor even has some advantages over the professionals.

Just as inflation hit a surprise six-month high of 1.8% last week, National Savings & Investments joined the big banks in slashing its savings rates and cutting prizes on its Premium Bonds. 

Ahead of International Women's Day tomorrow, the FTSE 100 welcomed its sixth female chief executive this week as Milena Mondini de Focatiis was named new boss of insurance group Admiral.

These are difficult days. At times, it feels like the world is shuddering to a halt. There are fewer people as I wind my way to and from work every day and night on public transport.

Stock markets are in freefall as coronavirus threatens to tip the world into recession. The FTSE fell another 4 per cent yesterday, taking losses in the past three weeks to more than 30 per cent.

Here, we have asked eight influential experts who have invested through previous crashes to share their top tips on surviving the coronavirus pandemic-hit stock market.

Markets have plummeted over the past month, meaning some heirs could have 'overpaid' inheritance tax when they were at peak value.

Markets which bet on the future value of dividends paid by FTSE 100 companies indicate that two-thirds of the missing payouts could be lost forever.

With more than half the world currently under some form of lockdown, the businesses that are still able to serve our needs are reporting increased profits and moving into new markets.

Britain's world class big pharma companies were always going to be a huge asset in the fight against Covid-19 and in finding solutions, not just to this pandemic, but to future similar events.

Royal Mail employees have kept services operating in the midst of a crisis. So it is surprising Back has chosen, since the shutdown began on March 23, to hunker down with his family abroad.

Georgieva scratched at an old wound when she said that the UK should seek an extension beyond the transition period for leaving the EU. Brussels gave the Bulgarian her job and she has not forgotten.

Far be it for me to comment on the US's medical response to the coronavirus, but amid these failings the US does appear to have managed the business piece remarkably well.

The latest public policy intervention to support R&D and start-ups through the worst of the Covid-19 crisis is right. Some will complain the government is slow to react and lags behind Germany.

One could barely believe the reports when the May price for West Texas crude oil dipped into negative territory late on Monday. The immediate thought was: does this mean free petrol for my car?

Richard Branson has touched a raw nerve with his £500m bailout request for Virgin Atlantic. He is portrayed as living the high life in the Caribbean with a reputation for treating women carelessly.

Damage done to Britain's prosperity by the severity of the lockdown is terrifying. It has not been made any easier by the wilful destruction of the country's smaller enterprises.

The scale of the task was outlined by Paul Johnson from the Institute for Fiscal Studies this week when he projected a deficit of £260 billion this year.

To make matters easier for the lenders, the Bank of England has already released counter-cyclical buffers to prepare for current loan demand.

A survey based on firms across the advanced world and emerging markets found Covid-19 is creating unprecedented stress with likely falls of 25 per cent in revenues, soaring debt levels and bankruptcies.

When the coronavirus became an issue early this year there was much loose talk about it being no more than a cold. Similarly, it was easy to regard the economic impact as transitory.

For everyone managing a pension or investment fund, Shell's decision to slash its dividend by two-thirds and suspend promised share buybacks will be a profound shock.

What Britain's fight against coronavirus has shown is the monolithic approach of Public Health England at the outset of the crisis was a terrible error, which frustrated the medical research community.

Blackwell has again come to the fore after the Treasury is understood to have been exasperated at Lloyds' lacklustre embrace of the Coronavirus Interruption Loan Scheme.

When Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party were proposing to go on a spending spree ahead of last December's general election there was much talk of a magic money tree.

ALEX BRUMMER: In spite of best government efforts the nation is heading for a slump, a surge of insolvencies and levels of unemployment almost certainly not seen in our lifetimes. Action is needed.

ITV's chief exec Carolyn McCall has done the right things to limit the scarring. Some 800 workers have been furloughed, the dividend and executive pay have been cut and costs severely pruned.

By unhappy coincidence, the anniversary of the most rapturous day in British history, victory in the war against Nazi evil, comes amid a dismal historic message from the Bank of England.

As a nation in lockdown commemorated VE-Day, here is something to ponder. In the midst of the War, policymakers in Britain and around the world were deep in planning for the peace.

Mauricio Pochettino tugged on Tottenham heartstrings this week when he spoke of his love for the club enduring despite his sacking in November.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BY CHRIS SUTTON: You will never find any splinters in Tim Sherwood's backside, because this is not a man for sitting on the fence.

What can DIY investors learn from the Woodford blowout for how they manage their money, keep an eye on the funds they hold, and whether an investment trust would be better option?

Colin McLean, manager of the SVM UK Opportunities fund, says that he is backing British firms with good profit margins, solid business plans and something special in their product or service.

The lower rate should allow Britain to compete on more favourable terms against other top economies - it compares with 40% in the US, 33% in France and 29% in Germany.

Tory MPs had threatened to rebel against the government if George Osborne had gone ahead with his New Year tax hike on petrol and diesel.

The tax-free allowance for pensions will be cut from £1.5million to £1.25million over a lifetime and from £50,000 to £40,000 annually - raising an extra £1billion.

The Chancellor was forced to admit in the Commons that the economy will SHRINK by 0.1 per cent this year, forcing him to announced the Office for Budget Responsibility has predicted the economy will shrink this year by 0.1 per cent, down from the 0.8 per cent growth forecast just nine months ago.

Chancellors can never resist the opportunity to fiddle with pension rules. George Osborne has joined the club, pushed by the determination of the LibDems to be nasty to rich people.

Small companies and stockbrokers welcomed the chance that shares quoted on the junior Alternative Investment Market may qualify for tax relief under the Individual Savings Account shelter.

Banks will be asked to hand over businesses’ credit card transactions in an effort to smoke out tax dodgers, George Osborne announced.

Labour frontbenchers mocked Nick Clegg, pictured, and his Lib Dem colleagues as George Osborne dashed their hopes of introducing a 'mansion tax' in his Autumn Statement.

The number in the 40 per cent tax band is expected to rise from 3.8million today by another 400,000 over the next three years, the Treasury said yesterday.

The changes will come into force in 2014/15 and are expected to bring thousands more well-off savers into tax on their pension contributions, generating an extra £1 billion in tax by 2016/17.

Adele Collinson, pictured, owns an arts and crafts busines and worries the new cap on tax-free pension contributions will hit her retirement plans.

George Osborne targeted workers at the top, middle and bottom of the financial heap in his Autumn statement yesterday with a raft of money-saving measures.