Desk Slang · Core
Window Dressing
Window dressing is quarter- or year-end portfolio cosmetics: dump the losers, buy the winners or the cash, so the snapshot holdings look like the brochure.
Definition
Reporting dates create a demand for a pretty book. That produces predictable flow in index heavyweights, IG over HY, and on-the-run Treasuries. It is agency, not alpha — but it moves closing prints.
Why it matters
Turn-of-quarter liquidity and repo specials often have a dressing component. TCA that ignores the calendar mis-attributes the print.
Case
Year-end 2018 and many March/September turns: cash and quality bid, residual junk offered, then a snap-back in week one.
How to read it
If the move starts two days before the date and dies the next morning, it was dressing until proven otherwise.
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