Daisy Chain   -    A group of unscrupulous investors who, practicing a kind of fictitious trading or wash selling, artificially inflate the price of a security so that they sell it at a profit.

Dalal Street   -   A term that refers to the Bombay Stock Exchange, the major stock exchange in India. The street is home not only the Bombay Stock Exchange but also a large number of other financial institutions.

Dawn Raid   -   The action of a firm or investor buying a substantial amount of shares in a company (making it a target firm) first thing in the morning when the stock markets open. This is done by a stock broker acting on behalf of a company. Because the bidding company builds a substantial stake in its target at the prevailing stock market price, the takeover costs are likely to be significantly lower than they would be had the acquiring company first made a formal takeover bid.

Dead Cat Bounce   -   Refers to a large jump in the Stock Market after a period of falling markets, but the jump is only temporary and markets falls subsequently.

Dead Hand Provision   -   A stipulation on a defense mechanism (or poison pill) used by companies in order to protect against a merger or takeover by another company. The dead hand provision prevents the removal of the poison pill, a strategy used to discourage a hostile takeover, even if shareholders of the target company favor the takeover.

Death Spiral   -   A type of loan investors give to a company in exchange for convertible debt, which, like convertible bonds, typically has provisions that allow investors to convert the bonds into stock at below-market prices. This can cause the original shareholders to lose control of the company.

Death Valley Curve   -   A slang phrase used in venture capital to refer to the period of time from when a startup firm receives an initial capital contribution to when it begins generating revenues. During the death valley curve, additional financing is usually scarce, leaving the firm vulnerable to cash flow requirements.

Deceased Alert   -   A notification on a person's credit report that alerts credit agencies that the person is deceased and should not be issued credit in the future. Upon a person's death, a family member or friend must request the credit reporting agencies to send out the deceased alert. The purpose of the deceased alert is to prevent identity thieves from stealing and abusing the name of the deceased person.

Deer Market   -   A flat market. Neither a bull or bear market, a deer market is characterized by low activity, with timid investors waiting for a sign of which way the market is going to end up moving.

Deflation   -   A general decline in prices, often caused by a reduction in the supply of money or credit. Deflation can be caused also by a decrease in government, personal or investment spending. The opposite of inflation, deflation has the side effect of increased unemployment since there is a lower level of demand in the economy, which can lead to an economic depression.

Defunct   -   The condition of a company, whether publicly traded or private, that has gone bankrupt and ceased to exist. If the company was publicly traded, it will be delisted from the exchange where it was listed, and its stock will be worth nothing. 
This term also applies to currencies that are no longer in circulation.

Deliverables   -   A project management term for the quantifiable goods or services that will be provided upon the completion of a project. Deliverables can be tangible or intangible parts of the development process, and are often specified functions or characteristics of the project.

Derivatives Time Bomb   -   A possibile situation where the financial markets plunge into chaos if the massive derivatives positions owned by hedge funds and the large banks were to move against those parties.
Institutional investors have increasingly used derivatives to either hedge their existing positions, or to speculate on given markets or commodities. The growing popularity of these instruments is both good and bad because although derivatives can be used to mitigate portfolio risk. Institutions that are highly leveraged can suffer huge losses if their positions move against them.

Dialing and Smiling   -   A slang term for the practice of cold calling.

Diamonds   -   1. An extremely hard gemstone used mainly for jewelry, tools and as an investment in precious stones.
2. The informal term for an index-based unit investment trust, known formally as Diamonds Trust Series 1. 

Diluted Founders   -   A slang term often used by venture capitalists to describe the process by which the founders of a startup gradually lose ownership of the company they founded. As a startup that is using venture capital for funding progresses through multiple rounds of financing, the venture capitalists providing the financing will often want more and more ownership of the company. 
In other words, the founders dilute their ownership in the company in exchange for capital to grow their business.

Dirty Float   -   A system of floating exchange rates in which the government or the country's central bank occasionally intervenes to change the direction of the value of the country's currency. In most instances, the intervention aspect of a dirty float system is meant to act as a buffer against an external economic shock before its effects become truly disruptive to the domestic economy.  
Also known as a "managed float".

Disgorgement   -   A repayment of ill-gotten gains that is imposed on wrong-doers by the courts. Funds that were received through illegal or unethical business transactions are disgorged, or paid back, with interest to those affected by the action. Disgorgement is a remedial civil action, rather than a punitive civil action.

Disinflation   -   A slowing of the rate at which prices increase. Typically, this occurs during a recession as sales drop and retailers are not able to pass on higher prices to customers.

Dividend   -   The part of the company's earnings that is paid to shareholders.

Dividend Clawback   -   An arrangement under which those financing a project agree to contribute, as equity, any prior dividends received from the project to cover any cash shortages.

Diworsification   -   The process of adding to one's portfolio in such a way that the risk/return tradeoff is worsened.

Dog   -   One of the four categories (quadrants) of the BCG growth-share matrix that represents the division within a company that has a small market share in a mature industry.

Dog and Pony Show   -   A slang term referring to a financial seminar that presents new products or issues of securities to potential buyers.
Also known as a "road show".

Dog Eat Dog   -   When the market for a good or service is ruthlessly competitive.

Dogs of the Dow   -   An investing strategy that consists of buying the 10 DJIA stocks with the highest dividend yield at the beginning of the year. The portfolio should be adjusted at the beginning of each year to include the 10 highest yielding stocks.

Doing the Reverse Desk   -   A slang phrase referring to a tactic a hedge fund would use to try to mislead other funds that attempt to mimic its trades. 

Dollar Roll   -   A type of repurchase transaction in the mortgage pass-through securities market in which the buy side trade counterparty of a "to be announced" (TBA) trade agrees to a sell off the same TBA trade in the current month and to a buy back the same trade in a future month at a lower price.

Doomsday Call   -   A call provision added to fixed income securities that allows for early redemption by the issuer if certain conditions are favorable.

Dotcom   -   A company that embraces the internet as the key component in its business.

Double Barreled   -   A municipal general obligation bond in which the cash flows are pledged by two distinct and different entities. One entity will make interest payments, and the other, the principal payments. These are municipal general obligation (GO) bonds as opposed to revenue bonds because they are ultimately backed by the issuer and its taxing power.
Double-barreled bonds are sometimes referred to as "combination bonds".

Double Dip Recession   -   When gross domestic product (GDP) growth slides back to negative after a quarter or two of positive growth. A double-dip recession refers to a recession followed by a short-lived recovery, followed by another recession.

Double Dipping   -   For brokerage firms, when a broker puts commissioned products into a fee-based account. The broker makes money from both the client and the commission.

Double Witching   -   Similar to triple witching, but instead of three classes of options or futures expiring on the same day, double witching is when only two classes (any two) are expiring. The three classes are stock options, index options, and index futures.

Dove   -   An economic policy advisor who promotes monetary policies that involve the maintenance of low interest rates, believing that inflation and its negative effects will have a minimal impact on society. This term is derived from the docile and placid nature of the bird of the same name, and is the opposite of the term "hawk".
Statements that suggest that inflation will have a minimal impact are called "dovish".

Dow Jones BRIC 50 Index   -   A market capitalization-weighted stock index containing 50 of the most liquid and largest companies operating in Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC nations). The index uses the Dow Jones Global Indexes as its stock universe for the four nations, which cover approximately 95% of the market capitalization on local exchanges. Fifteen positions are targeted for each Brazil, Russia and China, while Russia's representation is targeted for five positions.

Dow Jones Euro STOXX Sustainability Index   -    A stock index that measures the financial performance of leading Eurozone companies as measured by their sustainability and environmental practices. The stock universe is the Dow Jones STOXX Sustainability Index, from which only companies operating in Eurozone nations (countries that have transitioned to the Euro) are chosen.  
Companies are given a sustainability score based on a comprehensive review by research firm SAM Group; annual surveys are conducted on all potential companies so that company progress and new initiatives can be constantly measured and compared against industry peers.  
The index is weighted based on free-float market capitalization and changes to the index are made annually after updated company sustainability scores have been obtained.
Quarterly weighting adjustments are also made as the market caps of member companies fluctuate. 

Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index   -   A stock index that captures the top 20% of the largest 600 companies in the Dow Jones Global Index that are based in North America. Companies are evaluated based on both general and industry-specific sustainability trends by Zurich-based SAM Group, a research firm that surveys thousands of global blue-chip companies each year.
The free-float market capitalization weighted index is reviewed quarterly for share count changes, and reconstituted annually once updated surveys have been completed for all potential index members. Each company in the 600 stock universe is given a sustainability score based on progress in areas such as corporate governance, climate change strategy and energy consumption as well as industry-specific variables.

Dow Jones Sustainability United States Index   -   A free-float market capitalization weighted index that captures the U.S.-based companies in the Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index, which contains the top 20% of the largest U.S., Canadian and Mexican companies from the Dow Jones Global Index based on economic and social sustainability.
The index is reviewed quarterly for possible weighting changes (based on free-float share counts) and reconstituted each year based on the updated results of comprehensive sustainability surveys, as compiled by research firm SAM Group. The surveys measure company efforts in energy conservation, corporate governance, shareholder relations and knowledge management, among many others.

Downside   -   The dollar amount by which the market or a stock has the potential to fall.

Downstream   -   The oil and gas operations that take place after the production phase through to the point of sale.

Downswing   -   A reduction in the overall level of economic or business activity. Downswings may be caused by fluctuations in the business cycle or a variety of macroeconomic events. Downswing may also refer to the downward movement in the value of a security following a period of stable or rising prices.

Dragon Bond   -   A bond that is issued in Asia but denominated in U.S. dollars.

Drill-Bit Stock   -   A term used to describe shares that trade for prices less than one dollar. The fractional prices are comparable to the diameter measures of drill-bits found in a hardware store.

Drip Feed   -   1. The process of investing on an ongoing basis in a small but growing firm over a period of time. Essentially, a drip feed results in a startup company receiving capital contributions as the need for capital arises, rather than getting a lump sum capital contribution at the company's inception.
2. The process of retail investors contributing small amounts of their savings to their investment pool on a periodic basis, such as $200/month, for example.

Drop   -   The difference in price between the front month and back month in a mortgage-backed security (MBS) dollar roll trade. A dollar roll is a popular type of trade in the MBS pass-through TBA market. 
According to forward securities pricing theory, the front month price should be higher than the back month price. The drop is a function of current short-term interest rates, prepayment estimates, and the supply and demand for pass-throughs in the current delivery or front month.

Dry Powder   -   A slang term for cash reserves kept on hand to cover future obligations.

Dually Employed With Kids (DEWKs)   -   A household in which there are children and both partners earn an income.

Dumbbell   -   An investment strategy, used mainly for bonds, where holdings are heavily concentrated in both very short and long term maturities.

Dummy Director   -   A person on a company's board of directors who votes and acts on the wishes of a non board member.

Dummy Shareholder   -   A person who holds shares in his or her name, but the shares are really owned by someone else.

Dwarf   -   A slang term used to describe a pool of mortgage backed securities (MBSs) that have been issued by Fannie Mae and have a maturity of 15 years.