Trading Glossary: D

These are common terms used in the financial services industry

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Daily charts: Charts that encapsulate the daily price movement of an instrument, for example a currency pair, index or share.
Data releases: Global economic statistics that are normally released at regular intervals, often monthly. The data can have a varying impact on the financial market, depending on factors such as when it‘s released and the level of economic insight it provides.
DAX 40: A market capitalisation weighted index of the top 40 companies listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in Germany. This is referred to as the ’Germany 40’ on our website and trading platform.
Day order: An order to buy or sell an instrument that will expire automatically at the end of the day if it’s not executed on the day the order has been placed.
Day trading: The process of entering and closing out trades within the same day or trading session.
Dealing spread: The difference between the buying and selling price of a contract.
Deposit: The funds required to initiate and maintain an open CFD trading position. Since CFDs are traded on margin, the deposit is only a fraction of the full value of the trade and is not the total amount that can be lost on a trade.
Depreciation: A fall in the value of an asset.
Diversification: An investment strategy that aims to manage risk through variety within an investor's trading portfolio. Different components are chosen from a range of different industry sectors, so it’s unlikely that all of the investments will fluctuate in the same direction. The idea is that the portfolio as a whole will display more consistent, stable results than any of the individual components in the portfolio.
Dividend: That part of a company’s profit after tax that is distributed to its shareholders. Dividends are usually distributed in cash, but can also take the form of stocks. Also known as payouts.
Dividends: A dividend is a distribution of a portion of a company's earnings, decided by the board of directors, to a class of its shareholders. Dividends can be issued as cash payments, as shares of stock, or other property.
Dove, dovish: The opposite of hawk, a dove refers to an economic policy advisor supporting monetary policies with lower interest rates as a means of encouraging economic growth.
Dow Jones Industrial Average (DOW): The Dow is the second oldest stock market index in the US and the most widely used indicator of the overall condition of the US stock market. It measures the performance of a selection of 30 blue-chip, publicly owned companies in the US.
Downtrend: A price trend characterised by a series of lower highs and lower lows.