The Daily Official List - The daily record setting out the prices of shares that are traded on a stock exchange.

Damage Limitation - The process of trying to limit or curtail the amount of damage or loss caused by a particular situation or event.

Dark Net - A term for online private websites and networks concealed from and inaccessible to unauthorised users in which materials are shared, normally illegally and anonymously.

Daughter Company - A company that is controlled partly or completely by a holding or parent company.

Dawn Raid - A sudden planned purchase of a large number of a company's shares at the beginning of a days trading on the stock exchange.

Day Player - In the entertainment industry, actors, etc., who are hired by the day.

Deadbeat - A person or company who tries to avoid paying their debts.

Dead Cat Bounce - A derogatory term used on the stock exchange to describe a huge decline in the value of a stock, usually a share, which is immediately followed by a temporary rise in price before continuing to fall. From: "Even a dead cat will bounce if it falls from a great height".

Dear Money - Also known as Tight Money. When money is difficult to borrow, and if a loan is secured then it would be paid back at a very high rate of interest.

Debenture - Unsecured certified loan over a long period of time with a fixed rate, based on the trust that payment will be made in the future.

Debriefing - A meeting or interview in which a person or group of people report about a task or mission just completed or attempted.

Debt - Money owed to another person or organisation, such as a loan, mortgage, etc., which is required to be paid back, usually with interest.

Debt-Equity Swap - An arrangement between a lender and a debtor, usually a company, in which the lender agrees to reduce the debt in exchange for newly issued shares from the borrower.

Debt Exposure - Money that a lender risks losing if the borrower fails to pay it back.

Decertification - In employment this refers specifically to action taken by workers to disassociate themselves from a trade union which previously represented them. Aside from this the general meaning refers to withdrawal of certification of one sort or another.

Decision Consequence Analysis - A process for helping decision makers, usually in the pharmaceutical and petroleum exploration industries, decide where resources such as time, money, etc., should be invested.

Decision Tree - A diagram which starts with an initial decision, and possible strategies and actions are represented by branches which lead to the final outcome decided upon.

Deed Of Partnership - A legal document which sets out how a partnership is to be run, and also the rights of the partners. A Deed Of Partnership is not compulsory but it helps to avoid any misunderstandings or disputes in the future.

Deep Throat - In business, an anonymous source of top secret information. First used in this sense in the reporting of the US Watergate scandal.

Deep Web - Also known as the Invisible Web, said to contain about 500 times more information than the generally accessible world-wide web, the Deep Web comprises data held by secure organizations, for example military and government.

De Facto - Latin - Existing in reality or fact, with or without legal right.

Defence Document - A document that a company's shareholders receive which explains why an offer to buy the company should be rejected.

Deficit Financing - When a government borrows money because of a shortage of funds from taxes. This usually results in pushing up interest rates.

Deflation - Economic decline typified by falling costs of goods and services; falling levels of employment; limited money supply or credit; reduced imports; lower wage increases, often caused by lower personal spending or investment, and/or a reduction in government spending. Deflation is broadly the opposite of inflation.

Delegation - An assignment of responsibility or task, usually by a manager to a subordinate. See delegation. Separately a delegation refers to a deputation, being a group of people appointed or responsible for representing a nation or corporation or other organization to attend talsk or negotiations, etc.

Deleveraging - An attempt by a company to reduce its debts, for example by selling off assets, laying off staff, etc.

Demerit Goods - Products or services such as as alcohol, gambling, drugs, prostitution, etc., which are considered unhealthy or undesirable, and are often subject to extra taxes in order to reduce consumption and potentially to fund remedial actions in response to consumption. See Sin Tax.

Democracy - Majority rule, by which the biggest proportion of members of a group determine decisions for the whole group. Democracy typically refers to a country's political system, in which government is elected through majority vote.

Demographic Profile - Used in marketing to describe a particular segment of the population, for example social class, age, gender, income, etc.

Demographic Segmentation - The process of identifying and dividing consumers into groups according to their race, age, gender, religion, etc.

Demonetize - To officially decide that a particular coin or banknote can no longer be used as currency.

Deposition - A sworn statement of evidence by a witness taken outside of the court proceedings before a trial.

Deregulate - The reduction or removal of government regulations from an industry or business.

Derived Demand - Demand for a service or goods which is created by the demand for another service or goods, such as the demand for steel to make cars.

Desk Jockey - An informal term for someone who spends their working day sitting behind a desk, and who is concerned about administration.

Desktop Publishing - Producing printed documents, magazines, books, etc., using a small computer and printer.

Didactic - Describes works of literature or art which are intended to be be informative or instructional, especially morally, rather than entertaining. From the ancient Greek word didaskein, which means to teach.

Digerati - People who consider themselves to be experts of the Internet and computer industry.

Digital Wallet - Computer software used to store a persons bank account details, name, address, etc., to enable them to make automatic payments when they are making purchases on the Internet.

Direct Marketing - The marketing of products, services, etc., directly to individual potential customers by sending them catalogues, leaflets, brochures, etc., by mail (including e-mail), calling them on the telephone or calling door-to-door.

Director - A person appointed to oversee and run a company or organisation along with other directors, In the entertainment industry, the person who directs the making of a film, TV program, etc.

Directives - At an official level, directives are instructions, guidelines or orders issued by a governing or regulatory body. They may amount to law. In a less formal way a directive equates to an instruction issued by an executive or manager or organizational department.

Direct Overhead - A portion of the overheads, e.g. lighting, rent, etc., directly associated with the production of goods and services.

Dirty Money - Money made from illegal activities which needs 'laundering' so that it appears to be legitimate.

Disability Discrimination Act - An Act of Parliament passed in Britain in 1995 which promotes the civil rights of disabled people and protects them from discrimination in employment, education, renting property, access to transport, etc.

Disburse - To pay out money from a large fund, e.g. a treasury or public fund.

Discount Loan - A loan on which the finance charges and interest is paid before the borrower receives the money.

Discount Window - In the US, when banks can borrow money from the Federal Reserve at low interest rates.

Discretionary Income - The amount of income a person is left with after taxes and living essentials, such as food, housing, etc., have been deducted.

Discretionary Order -  Permits a broker to buy or sell shares on behalf of an investor in order to get the best price.

Discriminating Duty - A variable tax levied on goods depending from which country they were imported.

Dispatch Note - Also called Dispatch Advice. A document giving details of goods which have been dispatched or are ready to be dispatched to a customer.

Distributable Profit - A company's profits which are available for distribution among shareholders at the end of an accounting period.

Distributer - An individual or company who buys products, usually from manufacturers, and resells them to retail outlets or direct to customers. A wholesaler.

Diversification - The act of growing a business by enlarging or varying its range of products, services, investments, etc.

Dividend - A portion of profits paid by a company to its shareholders.

Docking Station - A device to which a notebook computer or a laptop can be connected so it can serve as a desktop computer.

Document Sharing - Used in video-conferencing. A system which allows people in different places to view and edit the same document at the same time on their computers.

Dog - An informal slang term for an investment which has shown a poor performance. The slang term dog may also refer to other poor-performing elements within a business, for example a product or service within a company range, as in the widely used 'Boston Matrix'.

Dollar-Cost Averaging - Known in the UK as Pound-Cost Averaging. The practice of investing a fixed amount of money at fixed times in particular shares, whatever their price. A higher share price means less shares are purchased and a lower share price means more shares can be purchased.

Dolly - In the entertainment industry, a piece of equipment on wheels which allows the camera to move smoothly for long walking shots.

Double - In the film and TV industry, a person who stands in, or is substituted, for a principal actor.

Double-Blind - A method of testing a new product, usually medicine, in which neither the people trying the product nor those administering the treatment know who is testing the real product and who has been given a placebo containing none of the product.

Double-dip recession - A recession during which there is a brief period of economic growth, followed by a slide back into recession.

Double-dipping - The practice, usually regarded as unethical, of receiving two incomes or benefits from the same source, for example receiving a pension and consultancy income from the same employer.

Double-Entry Bookkeeping - An accounting method which results in balanced ledgers, i.e., for every transaction a credit is recorded in one account and a debit is recorded in another.

Double Indemnity - A clause in a life insurance policy where the insurance company agrees to pay double the face value of the policy in the event of accidental death.

Doula - A birthing or labour coach, from the greek word doule, meaning female slave.

Drayage - The fee charged for, or the process of, transporting goods by lorry or truck.

Drip Advertising - An advertising campaign in small amounts over a long period of time to ensure that the public is continually aware of a product or service.

Drum-Buffer-Rope - A method, usually in manufacturing, which ensures an efficient flow of work in a production process by taking into consideration any possible delays or problems which may occur.

Duopoly - Two companies, or a situation, in which both companies control a particular industry.

Dutch Auction - A type of auction which opens with a high asking price which is then lowered until someone accepts the auctioneers price, or until the sellers reserve price has been reached.

Dystopia - The opposite of Utopia, a society in which conditions are characterised by human misery, depirvation, squalor, disease, etc. The term is said to have been coined by by John Stuart Mill in 1868 in a UK House of Commons speech criticizing the government's Irish land policy.