Day Trading is the stock market strategy of purchasing and selling a given stock all in the say day. This form of trading is completely different from long term investing or even momentum or swing trading, which involves time frames of several days to several weeks. Day traders often try to make money on small movements in the stock price. [...]

When economists speak of debasement, they are referring to lowering the value of the money in an economy which is utilized to purchase goods and services. There are a number of ways that this can be done and has been accomplished throughout history. These include reducing the amount of precious metals in coins, eliminating the commodity backing, deficit spending, fractional [...]

Debasing the currency refers to the all too common historical process of lowering a currency’s actual value. In the past, this phrase commonly came to be associated with commodity money made principally from either silver or gold. Should the sum total of silver, gold, nickel, or copper be reduced, then the physical money is called debased. Even venerable institutions like [...]

A Debenture refers to a form of debt instrument. The differentiating factor of such instruments is that they do not have the physical backing of either collateral or assets securing them. Instead, they are only guaranteed by the overall reputation and creditworthiness of the issuing corporation or municipality. Governments and corporations alike commonly issue such bonds in order to obtain [...]

Debit cards are plastic cards that function like a check and are easily utilized like a credit card. Debit cards are commonly one of two types, either branded Visa or Master Card. When you use such a debit card to pay for a purchase, then this amount is deducted immediately from your checking account. Both convenience and security features are [...]

The Debt Ceiling refers to an American budgetary and financial constraint which the nation self imposed beginning in 1917. Congress mandates this limit for the maximum amount of debt the Federal government may have at any point in time. Back on November 2nd of 2015, the U.S. Congress suspended the debt ceiling with the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015. The [...]

Debt consolidation is combining all of an individual’s personal debts into a single larger debt. When people go though debt consolidation, they obtain one loan which they then use to pay down all smaller loans or outstanding debts. The idea is that this provides consumers with only a single payment that they make once per month. This is supposed to [...]

Debt coverage ratio has different meanings dependent on what entity is using it. In the world of corporate finance, it is the amount of cash flow that a company has to service its current debts. This ratio utilizes the net operating income divided by the debt payments due in a year or less. This includes principal, interest, lease payments, and [...]

Debt Deflation refers to the scenario where the loan collateral (or any other type of debt) sees a decrease in value. This is generally a negative end result. It often causes the loan issuer to insist on a restructure of the loan agreement. In other cases, they may be able to demand that the loan itself be completely restructured. Other [...]

Debt Forgiveness refers to the action of writing off all or some of a debt which a debtor has outstanding and usually simply cannot hope to repay. This act of forgiving debt can occur for the purpose of reducing the total sum of loss which the lender will otherwise incur because of defaults. From time to time, this idea has [...]

A Debt Fund refers to an investment pool. This might be either an exchange traded fund or a mutual fund. In it the core assets will be various types of fixed income investments. They could choose to invest in longer term bonds or shorter term ones, money market instruments, securitized products, or even floating rate debt. The debt funds feature [...]

Debt Ratio refers to a highly favored financial ratio. This one measures the consumer or company’s debt leverage. This ratio is best explained as the ratio for all of the longer-term and shorter-term debt divided by all assets of the individual or enterprise. It is then expressed out in percentage or decimal format. Another way of stating it is the [...]

Debt relief refers to the effective reorganizing of any form of debt so that the indebted party experiences at least some debt forgiveness. This could be complete or partial relief of debt from a large or even overwhelming burden. It is possible for it to take a wide range of scenarios. Relief might be offered in the form of lowering [...]

A Debt Relief Order (also known by their acronym DRO) refers to a British legal system type of insolvency method which is relatively new. It was Chapter 4 from the Tribunals, Courts, and Enforcement Act 2007 that actually created these new orders. The advantage that such DROs offer is a less expensive, faster, and simpler means of receiving bankruptcy styled [...]

Debt restructuring refers to a means which corporations or countries with overwhelming debt loads utilize to change the terms of their outstanding debt arrangements so they can gain advantage in repayment. Corporations will often utilize a form of debt restructuring so that they can sidestep defaulting on their already existing debt levels. They might also wish to gain the benefits [...]

Debt service refers to the cash that is necessary to be paid over a certain period of time in order to repay both principal and interest on a given debt. For individuals, monthly mortgage payments, or credit card bill payments, prove to be good examples of personal debt service. For businesses, payments on lines of credit, business loans, or coupon [...]

Debt to Equity refers to a ratio that is extremely important and often scrutinized in the world of business. It is the amount of longer term debt on the balance sheet of a corporation as related to and divided by the company equity. Long term debt for a company means money that it will not be expected to pay back [...]

Deductions refer to any expenditure or other item which becomes subtracted from individuals’ total gross income. This deduction will naturally lower the aggregate total of income which must be subjected to annual income tax. Sometimes these are referred to as allowable deductions. As an example, any individuals who earn $50,000 and who are eligible to claim a $5,000 deduction would [...]

A Deed refers to a legal document which allows for a real estate ownership transfer from one party to another. Within the document will always be the names of the new and old owners of the property as well as the legally binding description of said real estate. The document must be signed over by the individual who is selling [...]

A deed in lieu of foreclosure represents an alternative option to a standard foreclosure on a house. In this deed in lieu arrangement, the owner of the property decides to hand over the property in question to the lender on a completely voluntary basis. In exchange for agreeing to this, the lender cancels out the mortgage loan. The deed to [...]

Deed of Priority refers to a deed or other form of contract where two or more creditors concur between themselves on the order that their security for a debtor in common will rank. In other words, they set out the rights which each of them will have pertaining to recovering the debts which the specific debtor in question owes them [...]

A Deed of Trust refers to a critically important document which is associated with purchasing a house. Coupled with the promissory note, these are arguably the two most important documents which get signed in a closing on a home. The deed of trust proves to be the loan security. It is similarly the one which becomes recorded with public records [...]

A defeasance clause refers to a mortgage contract. It is the statement in a mortgage loan that explains what will happen once a borrower has repaid all of the outstanding loan amounts. At that point, the lender usually will be required by law to hand over the title of the property to the owner. These defeasance clauses are not utilized [...]

A Deferred Annuity refers to a specific kind of annuity contract. These types of annuities delay income payments (in the form of either a lump sum or installments) to the point where the investor chooses to obtain them. There are two principal stages in these kinds of annuities. These are the savings phase and the income phase. In the savings [...]

Deferred maintenance proves to be the action of putting off maintenance procedures that are needed and routine on both personal property, such as machinery, or real estate property, such as infrastructure. This is done to save on expenses, to reassign money that is available in the budget, or to achieve the available levels of budget funding. The downside to this [...]

Deficits are shortfalls in government revenues that result from them spending more money than they bring in from revenues. The deficit of a government is measurable by including or excluding the interest it pays for its debt. Primary deficit is simply the difference in all taxes and revenues less the present level of government outlays. Conversely, total deficits, usually simply [...]

Deficit Financing refers to a particular emphasis in money management. In this unique angle on financing, companies or governments happily spend a greater amount of money than they take in over the comparable period. This is also called a budget deficit strategy. In fact governments on most levels, small businesses to corporations, and individuals with their household budgets all attempt [...]

Deficit spending is a generally unsustainable scenario where a greater number of resources are employed to secure purchases than are brought in to the organization through revenue generating means. When this is the case, the business or government outfit actually operates in a budget deficit. This simply means that not enough financial resources are being created by the organization in [...]

A defined benefit plan is a pension plan that serves as a vehicle for retirement. These plans give owners who are retiring benefits that are already pre-determined when they are established. These plans turn out to be a win-win situation for all parties. Employees like the set benefit towards retirement that this provides. Employers also appreciate particular features of the [...]

Defined contribution plans turn out to be a specific type of retirement plan. In these, an employer’s yearly dollar amount contribution to the plan is spelled out clearly. Accounts are established on an individual basis for all employees participating. The amounts that are credited to such accounts include both the preset employer contributions, as well as any contributions coming from [...]

Deflation is simply the prices of goods and services going down in a given time frame. Deflation is the opposite of inflation, which is the rising cost of goods and services over a period of time. This does not make deflation a good thing in the long run. Another way of defining deflation is the increasing value of money versus [...]

Deflationary Bias refers to a government approach to managing inflation versus deflation. Inflation means that prices are rising, whereas deflation signifies that the prices of goods and services are decreasing. It is helpful to consider a real example of these two opposing concepts in order to understand them and the problems deflation can quickly cause. If individuals go to their [...]

Delinquency refers to primarily an individual (but also conceivably an entity or business) failing to make good on what was expected of them according to their duty or the law. It often pertains to failing to affect the minimum due payment or carry out a fiduciary responsibility. An individual who practices Delinquency is called a delinquent. These persons have contractually [...]

Delinquent Rent refers to rent that tenants pay their landlords late. This is called one of the two greatest frustrations for landlords in the renting process. The other one is handling tenants who vandalize a place. Making good on late or unpaid rent is a hassle for landlords that is almost always an expensive and time consuming process. There are [...]

Demand-pull inflation is one of the two types of general inflation. It comes because of powerful consumer demand in an economy. When many different people choose to buy the identical product, this will result in a price increase. If this scenario transpires in an entire economy on all kinds of goods, then it becomes the demand-pull type of inflation. Keynesian [...]

Demutualization is the decision undertaken by the members of a mutual corporation to convert their company into one which shareholders own instead. This means that the members and users of the mutual company give up their rights of use in exchange for stock shares in the new usually publically traded company. Such mutual companies were originally established in order to [...]

Denomination refers to a means of classifying the face value for financial instruments. This would involve currency coins and bank notes along with bonds and other kinds of fixed income investments. It can also refer to base currencies for which financial assets will be quoted in ultimately. Governments and companies find it useful to classify the types of acceptable forms [...]

The Department of Justice is the largest law office in the world. It is an executive department of the Federal government in the U.S. whose head is appointed by the President. This department holds responsibility for administering justice and enforcing the laws in the United States. This makes the department similar to other nations’ interior or justice ministries. Head of [...]

The Department of the Treasury is an American Federal government department which is tasked with financing the spending of the United States. It bears the responsibility for raising funds by issuing and selling treasury bills, notes, and bonds to banks and investors. The treasury department has oversight for a number of other important government agencies. Beneath its umbrella and authority [...]

Dependency theory is the idea that resources move from the poor, less developed nations of the periphery to the nations which are wealthy and called the core. The theory states that the wealthier nations enrich themselves at the expense of the poor countries. The central idea of this theory believes that the rich countries become enriched while the poor ones become [...]

Dependent development is one of the principal ideas underlying dependency theory. This form of development has historically concerned the efforts to export primary resources from countries which are resource-rich but industry-poor. Instead of looking at the nations of the world and treating their economic labor equally, it makes the case that developed nations are able to force unequal exchanges on [...]

A Depository Bank refers to a facility like an office, building, or even warehouse that acts as a depository for safeguarding and storage purposes. This might be a bank, a vault, an organization, or even a financial institution which inventories and helps with the act of trading securities. The term also pertains to any depository institution which takes in financial [...]

Depreciation is the means of spreading out the price of a usable physical asset during the period of its practical life. Businesses engage in this process of depreciating assets for accounting and taxing purposes. Depreciation can also be the reduction of the value of an asset that poor market conditions create. Where accounting and taxing purposes are concerned, the process [...]

Depressions in economics are loosely defined as major declines in a country’s GDP, or gross domestic product. The gross domestic product is made up of four major components. These include money that consumers spend, government spending for goods and labor, investment affected by government agencies and individual companies, and the net sum of the country’s exported products. All of these [...]

In the financial world, derivatives are agreements between two different parties that contain values that are dependent on the price movements of an asset, as anticipated in the future, to which they are linked. This asset, which might be a currency, stock price, or other element is referred to as the underlying. Derivatives are also alternative investments and financial instruments, [...]

Deutsche Bank is the leading German bank in the world. It commands a substantial market share in Germany, a strong place in European banking, and an important presence in both the Asia Pacific and Americas regions. The group has grown from its founding in Berlin, Germany in 1870 to encompass strong operating bases in all of the major developed and [...]

Devaluation involves an intentional adjustment to the downside for the currency value of a country. This is done in comparison to a currency standard, basket of currencies, or a single currency. This practice turns out to be a monetary policy tool for those nations that are either using semi fixed exchange or fixed exchange rates, like with China. Sometimes individuals [...]

A digital currency refers to an asset which possesses numerous interesting and groundbreaking characteristics. On the one hand, they are much like traditional forms of money that people spend and keep, such as cash and coins. On the other hand, such currencies are not physical. This means that they do not have literal physical representations or the associated physical limitations. [...]

A digital wallet is an electronic type of device which makes it possible for individuals to complete financial transactions electronically. They are also called e-wallets. There are several useful applications for using this technology. Consumers can utilize them to buy thing over the Internet with a computer or laptop. They might also employ them to buy an item or service [...]

Discount fee refers to an upfront closing cost on a mortgage. This one time arrangement provides a mortgage borrower with the ability to enjoy lower mortgage rates than the general market offers. These discount points are often tax deductible. This is because the IRS counts these points as mortgage interest that is prepaid. The discount fee varies from one bank [...]

A discount mortgage broker is one who claims that the lender is paying his or her fees. These mortgage brokers shop for competitive loan deals on the behalf of consumers looking for mortgages. Upfront mortgage brokers by contrast are ones that spell out exactly the fees they will receive from the borrower. Their charges are part of the closing costs [...]

Discount points are also sometimes known as simply points. They represent a type of interest that is paid in advance. A single discount point is equivalent to one percent of the total loan amount. Through charging borrowers points, lenders boost their loan’s yield to a total that is higher than the expressed interest rate. Borrowers are able to give a [...]

The term discount rate actually has several meanings. Where interest rates and banks are concerned, the discount rate proves to be the actual interest rate that central banks charge their member depositing institutions. When these banks choose to borrow funds from the central bank or the Federal Reserve as their lender of last resort, then this is the rate that [...]

Discover Financial Services turns out to be a United States’ based global financial service outfit. They issue and service the Discover Card and Diners Club International Card and operate Pulse Networks. Their flagship card proves to be the third biggest brand of credit cards within the U.S. based on the number of cards in use. The company boasts almost 50 [...]

A discretionary expense refers to those business or home costs that are not considered to be critical for the entity to function or operate effectively. This is important, since both businesses and individuals often are required to pay for discretionary expenses using discretionary income. As an example, businesses might permit their staff to charge specific kinds of entertainment and meal [...]

Discretionary income refers to the amount of income an individual or family possesses after they cover their personal expenses and taxes. Critical personal expenses include shelter, food, clothing, transportation, and medicines. The money which remains is available for savings, investing, or consumption spending. This means that a discretionary form of income would include such items as goods and services which [...]

Disposable income proves to be the remaining income after an individual has met all of his or her income tax obligations. It is utilized as a means of ascertaining the health of an entire society, as well as a person’s general economic condition. Disposable income also turns out to be among the main measurements for determining personal wealth. Although they [...]

Distressed assets are assets that a company or individual has been forced to place for sale at a significant discount to the acquired or actual value. This usually happens as the owner has no choice but to sell the asset to raise cash. Several different reasons might exist for why this is the case. These include excessive debt levels, bankruptcy, [...]

Distressed Securities refer to a corporation’s financial instruments when the underlying companies are nearing or actually undergoing bankruptcy presently. Because such a firm is unable to cover all of its various financial responsibilities, its financial instruments will have undergone a dramatic decline in value. Yet thanks to the implied volatility that comes along with such inherent risk, the instruments actually [...]

Diversifying refers to the means of effectively lowering your investing risk by putting your money into a wide range of various assets. A truly well diversified portfolio offers the benefits of lower amounts of risk than those that are simply invested into one or two asset classes or kinds of investments. Everyone should engage in some amount of diversification, even [...]

Dividends represent portions of a company’s earnings that are returned to the investors in the company’s stock. These are typically paid out in cash that is either deposited into the investors’ brokerage accounts or can be reinvested directly into the company’s stock. As an example of a dividend, every share of Phillip Morris pays around 4.5% dividends on the stock [...]

The Dividend Payout Ratio refers to a ratio of all dividends which have been paid out to the total shareholders as compared to the complete net income of the company. In the end, the percentage of earnings paid to shareholders in the form of dividends is what this amounts to. Any amount of earnings which does not become payable to [...]

Dividend Reinvestment Plans are also known by their acronyms as DRIPs or even DRPs. These plans come from corporations and companies which permit their investors to take their cash dividends in the form of reinvesting options. Generally this amounts to the investors acquiring extra fractional shares or additional whole shares. It occurs on the payment date of the dividend. DRIPs [...]

Dividend Stocks refer to stocks that pay especially generous and predictable shares of the corporate earnings out to their share holders. They are especially important for those investors who require dependable continuous streams of income off of their investment portfolios, such as retirees. This is why the optimal stock portfolio for those who are officially retired includes a strong and [...]

Dividend yield refers to the payout of dividend price ratio on a given company’s stock. It is simply determined by taking the yearly dividend payment total and dividing it by the cost for each share. This dividend yield is commonly given out as a percentage. The reciprocal of dividend yield proves to be the price to dividend ratio. Dividend yields [...]

The Dodd-Frank Act is fully entitled the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. This enormous law served to reform the financial world following the financial crisis and Great Recession that began in 2008. President Obama’s administration passed it through congress in 2010. This Dodd-Frank Act legislation is literally thousands of pages long and contains numerous provisions. The regulations [...]

The dollar standard came about as a result of the breakdown of the Bretton Woods agreement and international monetary system. In 1973 the U.S. (and then other developed countries) had abandoned the gold standard. The central bankers and finance ministers of the world could not reach agreement on a new standard for managing monetary relations and international trade. What emerged [...]

The dotcom bubble inflated during the wild Internet and computer software heyday of the mid to late 1990s. It was epitomized by the dramatic and fast paced rise of equity markets which were powered by Internet-based firms and startup investments. In the midst of this bubble, the values and capitalizations of the stock markets rocketed up astronomically. The technology-heavy NASDAQ [...]

Dow Jones is an international and American news company based in the United States. Wall Street Journal co-editor Charles Dow and Edward Jones co-founded the company with fellow reporter Charles Bergstresser back in 1882. The independent history of Dow Jones & Company continued under the Bancroft Family from the 1920s all the way until 2007. At this point, an extensive [...]

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, commonly referred to by its acronym DJIA, is also many times called the Dow 30, the Dow Jones, the Dow, or even just the Industrial Average. It proves to be the second oldest stock market index in the Untied States after the Dow Jones Transportation Average. The Dow Jones Industrial Average came into being when [...]

Dow Theory is a method for picking successful stock trades. At over a hundred years old, it may be the oldest system for selecting stocks that is still utilized. This is why investors often refer to it as the grandfather of stock selection theory. Charles Dow created his Dow Theory in a series of Wall Street Journal editorials he wrote [...]

A down payment is an upfront amount that is given as a portion of the price on a purchase of large ticket items such as houses or cars. These are given in cash or by check when the contract is signed. The balance of the sum due is then given as a loan. Down payments are principally intended to make [...]

Dual Index Mortgages are products of Latin American countries. They are especially popular in places like Mexico that have experienced significant inflation levels historically. These kinds of mortgages permit borrowers to buy houses even when a substantial amount of inflation risk exists. They are not and have never been offered in the United States, though they have been compared to [...]

The phrase due diligence is utilized to discuss a wide variety of legal obligations, assignments, investigations, and reports. These all are practiced in business, manufacturing and law. The most commonly used version of the phrase has to do with businesses. In business, the concept of due diligence pertains to the process gone through by venture capitalists in advance of pouring [...]

Due Process refers to the requirements of the law that state a country has to respect its citizens’ legal rights. This right of man offsets the powers of the nation’s laws of the land. It safeguards individuals from them. As governments elect to harm or suppress a individual without proceeding according to the law’s proper course, experts call this a [...]

Within the structure and organization of the IFRS International Financial Reporting Standards, the trustees have various bodies that help them to perform their duties. The Due Process Oversight Committee is the one that carries the responsibility to monitor the procedures for effective due process. They also do this for the IASB International Accounting Standards Board and its Interpretations Committee. This [...]

Dumping in economics refers to a country attempting to enforce its own firms’ predatory pricing on other nations in the context of international trade. It also happens if a company exports its goods to a rival nation for a price that is under the one it would charge in its own domestic market or at a lower cost than the [...]

Where mutual funds are concerned, dividends are quite different than they turn out to be for stocks. Mutual fund dividends are actually required distributions of both income as well as capital gains that are realized that have to be paid out to investors in mutual funds. Mutual funds often bring in varying types of income. The challenge lies in the [...]