A 2021 market boom would be welcome, but there will still be plenty of losers

Coronavirus vaccines promise a rapid economic rebound, but many of the 2.6 million thrown out of work have a grim future

When the prime minister announced, in the last week of October, a second national lockdown in England, the best thing to do, it turns out, was to buy shares in pub companies, airlines, gyms, retailers and restaurant operators - in other words, those businesses that were about to get clobbered again.

No stock-picking skill was required. Everything has gone up. Here's a sample of representative names: JD Wetherspoon up 37%; easyJet 88%; the Gym Group 64%; Marks & Spencer 60%; and Restaurant Group, owner of Wagamama, 83%.