D · Moneywise Dictionary

Daily Cash Flow Daily cash flow is the money moving in and out of your hands each day, and it can look healthy on paper while calmly leaving you broke by evening.

Daily Compound Interest Daily Compound Interest is when interest gets calculated and added to your balance every single day, so tomorrow's interest is charged on today's interest too.

Daily Settlement Daily Settlement is the end of day process where a stock exchange or trading platform totals up gains and losses and moves the actual cash between accounts.

Daily Trading Limit Daily Trading Limit is the maximum amount a price can rise or fall on a stock exchange in one trading day before trading is paused or stopped.

Dangote Cement Dangote Cement is Nigeria's biggest cement maker, owned by Aliko Dangote, and one of the heaviest stocks on the NGX by value.

Dangote Group Dangote Group is the family owned conglomerate behind Dangote Cement and Dangote Refinery, one of the biggest businesses to ever come out of Nigeria.

Dangote Refinery Dangote Refinery is the giant Lagos oil refinery built to process Nigerian crude at home, cut fuel imports, and change how much you pay at the pump.

Dark Pool Dark Pool is a private stock exchange where big investors trade large blocks of shares away from public view, so the price does not move against them.

Data Analytics Data Analytics means studying your business numbers, like sales records or customer visits, to find patterns that help you make smarter decisions.

Data Mining Data mining is the practice of digging through the numbers a business already has to find patterns that help it sell smarter and spend wiser.

Data Room Data Room: a secure, organised digital folder where a business keeps its private documents so investors or buyers can inspect them before a deal closes.

Data Science Data Science is the work of finding useful patterns in numbers and information so businesses can make better decisions and pay well for the skill.

Date of Record Date of Record is the exact day a company checks its shareholder list to decide who gets the next dividend payment.

Day Order Day Order means a buy or sell instruction on the stock market that expires at the end of that trading day if it does not execute.

Day Trader Day Trader: someone who buys and sells shares within the same day, chasing small price moves instead of holding for the long run.

Day Trading Day trading means buying and selling shares within the same day, hoping to pocket small profits from price moves before the market closes.

Deadweight Loss Deadweight loss is the value lost to everyone when a tax, price control or ban stops a fair trade that would have made a buyer and seller both better off.

Dealer Dealer: someone who trades stocks or other assets from their own pocket, buying and selling to make money on the difference, more than passing orders for a fee.

Death Benefit Death benefit is the money a life insurance company pays to your chosen beneficiaries when you die, so the people you leave behind are not left stranded.

Debenture Debenture is a loan you give a company, backed only by its promise and reputation, not by any specific property or asset tied to it.

Debit Debit means money leaving your account, but on the bank's own books, your account is actually a liability to them, so a debit to you can be a credit to them.

Debit Balance Debit Balance means the amount you owe rather than the amount you own, usually because you have spent more than what was sitting in your account.

Debit Card A debit card spends the money you already have, taking it straight from your bank account whenever you pay or withdraw.

Debit Note Debit Note is a document a bank or business sends to tell you that your account has been charged extra, and here is why.

Debt Debt is money you owe, and in Nigeria it compounds against you far faster than most people expect.

Debt Consolidation Debt consolidation is when you roll several debts into one fresh loan, so you make a single, calmer payment, ideally at a lower overall cost.

Debt Coverage Ratio Debt Coverage Ratio measures whether a business earns enough cash to comfortably pay off its loans, showing lenders and owners how safe the debt really is.

Debt Default Debt default happens when you fail to pay back a loan as agreed, and the lender treats the account as broken beyond a simple missed payment.

Debt Discharge Debt discharge is the official cancelling of a debt, so the law says you no longer owe it, even if the balance was never fully paid.

Debt Equity Ratio Debt Equity Ratio compares what a company owes to what its owners have put in, showing how much of the business is built on borrowed money.

Debt Financing Debt financing means raising money by borrowing rather than selling ownership, and paying it back with interest on agreed terms.

Debt Forgiveness Debt forgiveness means a lender officially agrees you no longer owe some or all of a debt, wiping it off the books instead of chasing you for it.

Debt Free Debt Free means owing no one money, so every naira you earn belongs fully to you and your plans, not to a lender waiting by the door.

Debt Instrument Debt Instrument is a paper promise to repay borrowed money with interest, like a bond, treasury bill, or commercial paper.

Debt Issue Debt Issue is when a government or company raises money by selling bonds or notes to investors, promising to pay it back with interest on fixed dates.

Debt Ladder Debt Ladder means arranging your debts by interest rate, from the most expensive to the cheapest, so you know exactly which one to attack first.

Debt Load Debt Load is the total amount you owe across all loans, cards, and IOUs at any one time, and how heavy that total feels against your income.

Debt Management Debt Management is the calm, ongoing work of tracking, ordering and paying down what you owe so debt serves you instead of ruling your life.

Debt Management Office The Debt Management Office manages Nigeria's borrowing, and it is also where ordinary Nigerians can buy government savings bonds.

Debt Pile Debt pile is the total amount you owe across all your loans, cards and overdrafts, added up in one uncomfortable number.

Debt Refinancing Debt refinancing means swapping an old loan for a new one, usually to get a better rate, a longer term, or calmer monthly payments.

Debt Restructuring Debt restructuring is when a struggling borrower and lender rework a loan's terms so the debt can actually get paid back, instead of not at all.

Debt Securities Debt Securities are papers that prove you lent money to a government or company, and they owe you interest plus your capital back on agreed dates.

Debt Service Debt service is the total money you must pay each month or year to cover a loan, made up of the principal and the interest combined.

Debt Service Coverage Ratio Debt Service Coverage Ratio shows whether a business earns enough to pay back its loans comfortably, or is limping from one repayment to the next.

Debt Settlement Debt settlement is when you and the person you owe agree you will pay less than the full amount, or pay it differently, to close the matter for good.

Debt Snowball Debt Snowball is a payoff method where you clear your smallest debt first, then roll that payment into the next, building momentum as you go.

Debt Sustainability Debt sustainability is a country's ability to keep borrowing, repaying and still growing without choking on interest payments or begging for rescue.

Debt to Income Ratio Debt to Income Ratio is the slice of your monthly earnings that already belongs to debt repayments, before you even touch it.

Debt Trap A debt trap is when your repayments consume so much of your income that you must borrow again to survive, and the cycle closes behind you.

Debtor Debtor: a person or business that owes money to someone else, whether that is a bank, a shop, a friend, or a family member.

Decentralised Application Decentralised Application (DApp) is a piece of software that runs on a blockchain rather than on one company's server, so no single boss can shut it down.

Decentralised Autonomous Organisation Decentralised Autonomous Organisation (DAO) is a group run by code and member votes instead of a boss, where the rules live in a smart contract, not a memo.

Decentralised Exchange Decentralised Exchange (DEX) is a place to swap crypto directly with other people, with no company in the middle holding your funds or approving the trade.

Decentralised Finance Decentralised finance recreates lending, borrowing and trading using code instead of banks, with no institution in the middle and nobody to complain to.

Deciding Capital Deciding capital is the extra voting power a shareholder holds that lets them tip the scales and control what a company decides to do.

Decision Tree Decision tree: a simple map of choices, branching into the different outcomes each choice could lead to, used to think through a decision before making it.

Declared Dividend Declared dividend is the profit a company's board has officially announced it will pay shareholders, before the money actually lands in anyone's account.

Decoupling Decoupling is when one country's economy stops moving in step with another's, so a shock in one no longer automatically shakes the other.

Decreasing Term Insurance Decreasing Term Insurance is life cover where the payout shrinks over the years, usually to match a mortgage or loan that is also shrinking as it gets paid off.

Deductible A deductible is the amount you pay yourself before your insurance pays anything, and choosing it well is how you cut your premium.

Deduction Deduction: an amount the tax law lets you subtract from your income before your tax bill is worked out, so you pay tax on less money.

Deed Deed: the legal document that transfers or proves ownership of land or property, separate from the receipt or the agreement to buy.

Deed in Lieu Deed in Lieu is when a homeowner hands the property title straight to the mortgage lender to cancel a debt, instead of going through foreclosure or eviction.

Deed of Trust Deed of Trust is a paper that lets a third party hold the title to a property as security until the buyer finishes paying off the loan used to buy it.

Deep Discount Bond Deep Discount Bond: a bond sold far below its face value, so your real profit comes from the fat gap between what you pay and what you collect at maturity.

Default Default is what happens when you stop paying a debt as agreed and the lender officially treats the loan as broken, more than late.

Default Risk Default risk is the chance that someone who borrowed money will not pay it back the way they promised.

Defensive Stock Defensive stock means shares in a company whose products people keep buying even when money is tight, so the price tends to fall less when the market panics.

Deferred Annuity Deferred Annuity: money you hand over now so an insurance company pays you a regular income later, usually from retirement age onward.

Deferred Compensation Deferred compensation is money you have earned now but agree to collect later, usually to save on tax or to encourage you to stay with the company.

Deferred Income Deferred income is money a business has already received but has not yet earned, so it sits as a liability until the work or delivery is done.

Deferred Payment Deferred payment means you receive goods or services now but agree to pay for them at a later date, instead of paying on the spot.

Deferred Revenue Deferred revenue is money a business has collected for a product or service it has not yet delivered, so it sits as a debt owed, not profit earned.

Deferred Tax Deferred Tax is tax you will owe or save later, not now, because your accounting figures and your tax figures see the same transaction differently.

Deficit Deficit means spending more than you earned in a given period, so the gap has to be covered by borrowing, savings, or someone else's generosity.

Deficit Financing Deficit financing is when a government spends more than it earns and covers the gap by borrowing or printing money rather than cutting its plans.

Deficit Spending Deficit spending is when a government spends more money than it collects in revenue, and covers the gap by borrowing.

Defined Benefit Plan Defined Benefit Plan is a pension that promises you a fixed payout for life, worked out from your salary and years of service, not from how the market performs.

Defined Contribution Plan Defined Contribution Plan is a retirement scheme where you and your employer pay in fixed amounts, and what you get later depends on how well that money grows.

Deflation Deflation is a general fall in prices across the economy over time, which sounds sweet until you notice everyone stops spending because tomorrow looks cheaper.

Defragmentation Defragmentation is the business habit of clearing out the scattered small mess in a company, from files to processes, so everything runs faster and cleaner.

Delegated Authority Delegated Authority is the power a business owner formally hands to someone else to act, decide or sign on their behalf, within clear limits.

Delegation Delegation means handing a task to someone else and trusting them to carry it well, so you can focus on the work only you can do.

Deleveraging Deleveraging means paying down debt so a person or company depends less on borrowed money and stands on steadier ground.

Delinquency Delinquency is what happens the moment you miss a loan or credit card payment by its due date, even before anyone calls you a defaulter.

Delisting Delisting is when a company's shares are removed from a stock exchange, so you can no longer buy or sell them there.

Delivery Delivery is the actual transfer of shares (or another asset) from seller to buyer into a trading account, completing a trade beyond just the price agreement.

Delivery Date Delivery Date is the day the thing you bought in a trade actually changes hands and settles, separate from the day you agreed to buy it.

Delivery Versus Payment Delivery Versus Payment is a settlement rule that makes sure shares only move to the buyer the same moment money moves to the seller, so nobody gets stranded.

Delta Delta measures how much an option's price is expected to move when the price of the share or asset underneath it moves by ₦1.

Delta Hedging Delta Hedging is a way of protecting an options position by buying or selling the underlying share so that small price moves stop being frightening.

Demand Demand is how much of something people actually want and can pay for at a given price, more than how much they wish they could have.

Demand Curve Demand curve is a simple consider showing that as the price of something falls, more people want to buy it, and as price rises, fewer do.

Demand Deposit Demand Deposit is money in your account that you can withdraw any time, no notice needed, unlike money locked away in a fixed deposit until it matures.

Demand Draft Demand Draft: a bank guaranteed payment instrument, paid for upfront, that cannot bounce because the bank has already set the money aside.

Demand Elasticity Demand elasticity measures how much the quantity people buy changes when the price changes, showing whether buyers can walk away or must stay and pay.

Demand Forecast Demand forecast is your best educated guess at how much of your product or service people will actually buy in a coming period.

Demand Loan Demand Loan is a loan with no fixed repayment date, meaning the lender can ask for its full money back at any time, without warning.

Demand Pull Inflation Demand pull inflation is when too much money chases too few goods, so sellers raise prices because everyone suddenly wants the same things at once.

Demerger Demerger is when a company splits itself into two or more separate, independent companies, usually so each part can grow better on its own.

Demographics Demographics is the study of a population's age, size and makeup, and it calmly decides how much a country can grow, save, borrow and sell.

Demonetisation Demonetisation is when a government strips an existing note or coin of its status as legal money, forcing people to swap it or lose its value.

Department of Treasury Department of Treasury is the arm of a government, like the US Treasury, that manages money in, money out, borrowing, and the country's financial health.

Dependent Dependent means a person you financially support, like a child or elderly parent, whose upkeep can sometimes reduce the tax you owe.

Deposit Deposit means money you place into a bank account, or the upfront sum you pay to hold something before paying the rest.

Deposit Account Deposit Account is money you hand your bank to keep and grow, whether you can touch it any day or only after a set time.

Deposit Insurance Deposit Insurance is the promise that a small part of your money in a failed bank is still paid back to you, up to a fixed limit.

Deposit Slip Deposit Slip: the small paper or app form you fill to tell the bank exactly whose account should receive the cash or cheque you are paying in.

Depository Depository is any institution or system, like a bank or a central securities registry, that holds money or assets safely on behalf of others.

Depository Bank Depository Bank is the bank that holds shares, cash, or other assets safe on behalf of someone else, often as part of a bigger financial arrangement.

Depreciable Asset Depreciable Asset means a business item that loses value over time through use, so its cost is spread across several years instead of counted all at once.

Depreciation Depreciation is the way a valuable item loses worth as it is used, spread gently as a cost across the years it serves you.

Depression Depression is a very deep, very long economic slump, much worse than a normal recession, where businesses shut down and joblessness stays high for years.

Deregulation Deregulation is when government steps back and lets market forces, not fixed rules, decide prices and who can operate in an industry.

Derivative Derivative: a contract whose value depends on something else, like a crop, a currency, or a stock, rather than having worth on its own.

Derivative Market Derivative Market: the marketplace where contracts based on the future price of something else, like shares, oil or currency, are bought and sold.

Descending Triangle Descending Triangle is a chart pattern where a stock's price makes lower highs but keeps bouncing off the same floor, hinting the floor may soon give way.

Designated Market Maker Designated Market Maker is a firm the exchange appoints to keep quoting buy and sell prices on a stock so there is always someone to trade with.

Devaluation Devaluation is when a country's currency becomes officially worth less against others, making imports more expensive overnight.

Developed Market Developed Market means a country like the UK, US or Japan with a mature economy, stable institutions and a stock market investors treat as low risk.

Developing Country Developing Country describes a nation still building its income, infrastructure and institutions, a label that fits Nigeria but hides more than it explains.

Development Bank Development Bank: an institution set up to fund the roads, power plants and factories that ordinary commercial banks find too risky or too slow to profit from.

Development Levy Development levy is a 4 percent charge on a Nigerian company's assessable profit that rolled four older education and technology levies into one payment.

Diamond Hands Diamond Hands means holding on to an investment through wild price swings without panic selling, betting that patience will pay off better than fear.

Differentiation Strategy Differentiation strategy is a business plan to win customers by being clearly different from competitors, not by being the cheapest option on the shelf.

Digital Bank Digital Bank is a bank that lives inside your phone or computer, with no banking hall, no queue, and no security man checking your bag at the door.

Digital Currency Digital currency is any money that exists only as computer records rather than physical notes and coins, from the balance in your bank app to Bitcoin itself.

Digital Marketing Digital Marketing is the work of reaching customers through phones, social media and search engines instead of only posters and radio jingles.

Digital Signature Digital Signature is an electronic way of proving that you, and no one else, approved a document or transaction, using a code tied only to you.

Digital Sub-Broker Digital Sub Broker is an app or platform that lets you buy and sell NGX shares through a licensed stockbroker, without ever visiting an office.

Digital Transformation Digital transformation is when a business rebuilds how it works around digital tools, more than adding a website but changing how it sells, serves and thinks.

Digital Wallet Digital Wallet: an app on your phone that holds your card and account details so you can pay without carrying cash or a physical card.

Dilution Dilution is when new shares are created, so your percentage of the company shrinks even though you sold nothing.

Dim Sum Bond Dim Sum Bond is a bond issued outside China but paid in Chinese yuan, named after the small dishes served in Hong Kong teahouses where these bonds first traded.

Diminishing Returns Diminishing returns is the point where adding more of one thing, like fertiliser or workers, starts giving you smaller results than before, not zero, just less.

Direct Cost Direct Cost is the money that goes straight into making a specific product or delivering a specific service, like flour for bread or fabric for a dress.

Direct Debit A direct debit is a standing permission you give a company to collect an agreed amount from your account on a set date, so you never have to remember it.

Direct Deposit Direct deposit is money paid straight into your bank account by an employer, client or government, with no cheque, no queue, no envelope of cash involved.

Direct Investment Direct investment means putting your money straight into a company or asset yourself, without a fund manager or middleman standing between you and what you own.

Direct Listing Direct listing is when a company puts its shares straight on a stock exchange for trading, without selling new shares through underwriters first.

Direct Public Offering Direct Public Offering is when a company sells its shares straight to ordinary investors without hiring an investment bank to run the process.

Direct Stock Purchase Plan Direct Stock Purchase Plan lets you buy a company's shares straight from the company itself, no stockbroker standing in the middle taking a cut.

Director Director: someone appointed to steer the affairs of a company, with legal duties to the business that outrank their own personal interest in it.

Directors and Officers Insurance Directors and Officers Insurance covers company leaders personally if they are sued for decisions made while running the business.

Dirty Float Dirty Float is when a country lets its currency trade freely but the central bank keeps stepping in calmly to push the rate where it wants.

Dirty Money Dirty money is cash gained through fraud, bribery, theft or any dishonest deal, and it carries a cost that shows up later even when it looks clean today.

Dirty Price Dirty Price is the full amount you actually pay for a bond, including the interest that has calmly built up since the last payment date.

Disability Insurance Disability insurance replaces your income if illness or injury stops you working, and it protects the asset most people never insure.

Discharge of Debt Discharge of debt is the official cancelling of a loan, so the borrower no longer owes it, either because it was paid off or legally wiped out.

Disciplined Investor Disciplined Investor describes someone who follows a steady, sensible investing plan through market noise, rather than chasing hype or panicking at every dip.

Disclosure Disclosure means telling the people who put money into a company everything that could affect their decision, more than the flattering parts.

Discount Discount means a stock or bond is trading below what it is actually worth, so you are buying value for less than its sticker price.

Discount Bond Discount Bond: a bond you buy for less than its face value, so your profit comes from the gap between what you paid and what you get back at maturity.

Discount Broker Discount Broker is a stockbroker that charges you low fees to buy and sell shares but leaves the research and advice for you to sort out yourself.

Discount Margin Discount Margin is the extra return a floating rate bond pays above its reference rate once you account for the fact that it trades below or above face value.

Discount Rate Discount Rate is the interest rate a central bank charges commercial banks for short term loans, and it steers borrowing costs across the whole economy.

Discount Window Discount Window is the emergency lending counter at the Central Bank where commercial banks borrow cash quickly, usually overnight, to cover a shortfall.

Discounted Cash Flow Discounted Cash Flow is a way of working out what money you will receive in future is worth to you today, because money now beats money later.

Discounted Payback Period Discounted Payback Period tells you how long it takes to recover an investment once you have shrunk future cash flows to reflect today's value of money.

Discounted Tender Offer Discounted Tender Offer: when a company buys back its own bonds or shares at a price below their face or market value, and holders can accept or walk away.

Discrepancy Discrepancy is the gap you notice when two figures that should match, don't, like your bank balance and what you actually counted in your wallet.

Discretionary Account Discretionary Account: an investment account where you hand someone else the keys to buy and sell on your behalf, without calling you first for every trade.

Discretionary Income Discretionary Income is the money left after tax and essentials are paid, the part you actually get to choose what happens to.

Discretionary Spending Discretionary spending is the money you spend on wants, not needs, the suya, the Netflix, the owambe outfit, after the essentials are covered.

Discretionary Trust Discretionary Trust: money or property held by a trustee who decides, within limits you set, who among your beneficiaries gets what and when.

Discrimination Discrimination means being treated worse at work or in pay because of who you are, and not since of your skill or output.

Disinflation Disinflation is when prices are still rising but at a slower pace than before, so inflation is cooling without turning into a fall in prices.

Disintermediation Disintermediation is when people or businesses skip the traditional bank in the middle and move money or do deals directly, often through apps or platforms.

Disposable Income Disposable income is what remains after tax, and discretionary income is what remains after your essentials, which is the number that actually matters.

Disruptive Technology Disruptive technology is an innovation that upends how an industry works, often by making an old, expensive way of doing things cheap and available to everyone.

Distressed Debt Distressed debt is the bond or loan of a struggling company, sold cheap because everyone fears it will never be repaid in full.

Distressed Property Distressed property is a house or land sold cheap because the owner is under pressure, and not since the property itself is worthless.

Distressed Sale Distressed Sale means selling property fast and cheap because money trouble or time pressure leaves the owner with no room to negotiate a fair price.

Distribution Distribution is money or shares a company pays out to its investors from profit, separate from the wages of buying and selling shares for a gain.

Distribution Channel Distribution channel is the path a product takes from the maker's hands to the customer's, whether that path is short and direct or long and winding.

Distribution Yield Distribution Yield is the percentage of a fund's payouts, like dividends or interest, compared to its current price, showing what you earn without selling.

Diversification Diversification is spreading your money across different investments so that one bad outcome cannot ruin you.

Diversified Fund Diversified Fund: one pool of money spread across many different assets or businesses, so that one bad result cannot sink the whole boat.

Diversified Portfolio Diversified Portfolio means spreading your money across different types of investments so that one bad event cannot wipe you out.

Diversity and Inclusion Diversity and Inclusion means building a team with different kinds of people, and then making sure every one of them can actually speak up and be heard.

Divestiture Divestiture is when a company sells off or shuts down a part of its business, an asset, or a subsidiary that no longer fits where it wants to go.

Dividend A dividend is a share of a company's profit, paid out in cash to the people who own its shares.

Dividend Aristocrat Dividend Aristocrat is a company that has raised its dividend every year for at least 25 straight years, proof of steady cash flow through good times and bad.

Dividend Cover Dividend cover shows how many times a company's profit can pay the dividend it just declared, a quick check on how safe that payout really is.

Dividend Discount Model Dividend Discount Model is a way of valuing a share by adding up all the future dividends it will pay, then shrinking that total to what it is worth today.

Dividend ETF Dividend ETF is a single fund that holds many dividend paying companies, so your money collects small regular payouts from all of them at once.

Dividend Frequency Dividend Frequency is how often a company pays out dividends to shareholders, whether that is quarterly, twice a year, once a year, or now and then.

Dividend Growth Rate Dividend Growth Rate is how fast a company's dividend payout increases each year, a clue to whether your money will earn you more tomorrow than it does today.

Dividend Income Dividend income is the cash a company pays you simply for owning its shares, your reward for being part owner rather than just a spectator.

Dividend Payout Ratio Dividend payout ratio shows what slice of a company's profit is paid out to shareholders as dividends, and what slice is kept back for the business itself.

Dividend Per Share Dividend Per Share is the amount of company profit paid out for every single share you own, usually announced once or twice a year.

Dividend Policy Dividend policy is the set of rules a company follows to decide how much profit it pays to shareholders and how much it keeps for itself.

Dividend Reinvestment Dividend reinvestment is when the cash a company pays you as a shareholder is used to buy more shares instead of landing in your bank account.

Dividend Reinvestment Plan Dividend Reinvestment Plan is an arrangement where the cash dividend a company pays you buys more shares automatically instead of landing in your bank account.

Dividend Stock Dividend Stock: a company share that pays you a slice of profit regularly, just for owning it, whether the share price moves up or stays put.

Dividend Tax Dividend Tax is the cut government takes from the profit a company pays you for owning its shares, deducted before the money even lands in your account.

Dividend Trap Dividend trap: a share that pays a tempting dividend while the company itself is calmly falling apart underneath the payout.

Dividend Yield Dividend Yield shows how much cash a company pays you yearly for holding its shares, as a percentage of the share price you paid.

Documentary Collection Documentary Collection is a trade payment method where a bank passes shipping documents to the buyer only after payment or a signed promise to pay is made.

Documentary Credit Documentary Credit is a bank's written promise to pay a seller once specific shipping papers prove the goods were sent exactly as agreed.

Documentation Documentation is the set of papers and files a bank or lender needs to prove who you are, what you earn, and what you are asking for.

Dogecoin Dogecoin is a cryptocurrency that started as a joke about a Shiba Inu dog meme and somehow grew into a coin worth billions of naira in trading volume.

Dollar Cost Averaging Dollar cost averaging is investing a fixed amount at regular intervals, regardless of what prices are doing.

Dollar Denominated Bond A dollar denominated bond pays you in dollars rather than naira, so a falling naira cannot reduce what you are owed.

Dollar Index Dollar Index: a scoreboard that tracks how strong the American dollar is against a basket of other big currencies, not against the ₦ directly.

Dollar-Weighted Return Dollar Weighted Return measures the actual return an investor earned, giving more weight to periods when more money was in the account.

Domestic Bond Domestic Bond means a bond issued by a government or company in its own country and usually in its own currency, like an FGN bond sold to Nigerians in naira.

Domestic Investment Domestic Investment is money spent inside a country to build things that keep earning, like factories, roads, machines and homes, instead of money spent abroad.

Domestic Market Domestic market is all the buying and selling that happens inside a country's own borders, among its own people and businesses.

Domicile Domicile is the country you legally belong to for tax purposes, and it is far stickier than where you happen to be living.

Domiciliary Account A domiciliary account is a Nigerian bank account that holds foreign currency instead of naira, so dollars you receive stay as dollars.

Dominant Strategy Dominant Strategy is the one move that gives you the best result no matter what the other person does, so you do not need to guess their next step.

Donor Donor: someone who gives money, time or resources to a person or cause without expecting repayment, though the giving often shapes them as much as the receiver.

Door-to-Door Sales Door to door sales means selling a product or service by calling on people directly at home or work, instead of waiting for them to come to a shop.

Dormant Account A dormant account is one that has sat still for a long stretch, usually a year or more, so the bank gently freezes it until you come back.

Double Bottom Double bottom is a chart pattern shaped like the letter W, where a stock price falls twice to about the same low point before turning upward for good.

Double Dipping Double dipping means drawing two incomes from the same pot of money or the same hour of work, and it can be smart or scandalous depending on which pot it is.

Double Entry Bookkeeping Double entry bookkeeping is the rule that every transaction touches two accounts, so money leaving one place always shows up arriving in another.

Double Taxation Double taxation is being taxed twice on the same income, usually in two countries, and treaties exist to stop it happening to you.

Double Taxation Treaty Double Taxation Treaty is an agreement between two countries so a person or company does not pay full tax on the same income twice.

Double Top Double Top means a share price rises twice to roughly the same level, fails to break higher both times, and often turns downward afterwards.

Dow Divisor Dow Divisor: the small adjusting number that keeps the Dow Jones average steady even when the companies inside it split shares or get swapped out.

Dow Jones Industrial Average Dow Jones Industrial Average is a price based scorecard of 30 big American companies that news readers quote to say whether Wall Street had a good or bad day.

Dow Theory Dow Theory says the stock market's overall trend matters more than any single share, and it was built by a man who never invested a kobo in stocks himself.

Down Payment A down payment is the portion of a property's price you pay yourself upfront, and the larger it is the less you pay in total.

Down Round Down Round: when a startup raises new money at a lower valuation than its last round, meaning each share is now worth less than before.

Downside Risk Downside risk is the amount you stand to lose if things go wrong, the number you should ask before you ask how much you could gain.

Downsizing Downsizing is when a business deliberately becomes smaller, cutting staff, branches or costs, to survive hard times or run leaner and stay profitable.

Downstream Downstream describes the business of turning crude oil into the fuel, gas and products that reach the ordinary Nigerian at the filling station or the kitchen.

Downtick Downtick means a stock's price just dropped from its last trade, even by a tiny amount, and it matters because it shows the direction of the crowd's mood.

Downturn Downturn means the economy is shrinking or slowing down, with less money moving, fewer sales, and more caution everywhere you look.

Drag Along Rights Drag along rights let majority shareholders force minority shareholders to join a company sale, so one buyer can take the whole business cleanly.

Drawdown Drawdown is the drop from a peak value to a lower point before things recover, showing how much pain an investment put you through along the way.

Drawee Drawee is the bank or person told to pay a cheque or draft, the one holding the money and waiting for the instruction to release it.

Drawer Drawer is the person who writes and signs a cheque, telling their bank to pay a stated amount to someone else from their account.

Drawing Account Drawing Account is the running record of cash or goods an owner takes out of their business for personal use, separate from salary or profit.

Drift Drift is the slow, steady movement of a share price in one direction over time, without any single dramatic event pushing it there.

Driver Driver is the main force pushing your business forward, the reason sales rise or customers keep coming back.

Dry Powder Dry Powder is the cash an investor or business has set aside and ready to spend the moment the right opportunity or emergency shows up.

Dual Citizenship Dual citizenship is holding the nationality of two countries at once, which brings two sets of rights and sometimes two sets of tax obligations.

Dual Class Stock Dual class stock is a share structure where a company issues two or more types of shares, often with different voting rights but similar claims on profit.

Dual Currency Bond Dual Currency Bond: a bond that borrows in one currency but pays your interest or your final lump sum back in a different currency.

Dual Income Household Dual Income Household: a home where two people bring in money, which can mean more comfort, but only if both salaries are actually working together.

Due Date Due Date is the day a payment must land with your lender, and it is often not the day you actually run out of time.

Due Diligence Due diligence is checking something properly before you commit your money to it, rather than trusting the person selling it.

Dummy Director Dummy Director is a person whose name sits on company documents as director while someone else, the real owner, makes every decision and takes every profit.

Dumping Dumping is when a country or company sells goods abroad far cheaper than at home, or below cost, to flood a market and push out local competition.

Duplicate Receipt Duplicate Receipt is a second copy of proof of payment, issued when the original is lost, damaged, or never collected in the first place.

Durable Goods Durable Goods are things you buy once and use for years, like a generator, a car, or an air conditioner, not something you finish in a week.

Duration Duration measures how sensitive a bond's price is to changes in interest rates, expressed in years rather than as a percentage.

Dutch Auction Dutch Auction is a way of pricing shares or bonds where the price starts high and drops until buyers step in, so everyone often pays the same final price.

Dutch Disease Dutch Disease is when a country's oil or gas wealth makes its currency so strong that every other industry it owns becomes too expensive to sell to the world.

Duty Duty is a tax charged on goods, usually when they cross a border, come into an estate, or get stamped on a legal document.

Duty Drawback Duty drawback is a refund of import duty you already paid, given back to you once you export the finished goods you made with those imported materials.

Dynamic Pricing Dynamic pricing means the price changes with demand, time, or how badly you seem to need the thing right now, like Uber fares in the rain.

Dynamic Programming Dynamic Programming means solving a big problem by breaking it into smaller ones, solving each once, and reusing those answers instead of redoing the work.

Dynamic Scoring Dynamic scoring is a way of predicting how much a tax change will really raise, by assuming people will change their behaviour once the rules change.