[el-uh-fuh
nt] 
) -phant for 1. | 1. | either of two large, five-toed pachyderms of the family Elephantidae, characterized by a long, prehensile trunk formed of the nose and upper lip, including Loxodonta africana (African elephant), with enormous flapping ears, two fingerlike projections at the end of the trunk, and ivory tusks, and Elephas maximus (Indian elephant), with smaller ears, one projection at the end of the trunk, and ivory tusks almost exclusively in males: L. africana is threatened; E. maximus is endangered. |
| 2. | a representation of this animal, used in the U.S. since 1874 as the emblem of the Republican party. |
| 3. | white elephant. |
| 4. | Chiefly British. a size of drawing or writing paper, 23 × 28 in. (58 × 71 cm). |
| el·e·phant (ěl'ə-fənt) n.
[Middle English elefaunt, from Old French olifant, from Vulgar Latin *olifantus, from Latin elephantus, from Greek elephās, elephant-.] |
Elephants
Slang for large institutions that make trades in very high volumes.
Investopedia Commentary
Examples of elephants are mutual funds, pension plans, banks, and insurance companies. One elephant trade can dramatically move the market price for a security. Think of a swimming pool: if an elephant stepped into the pool, the water level (stock price) would increase considerably, and if an elephant got out of the pool, the water level (stock price) would decrease significantly. In comparison to the elephants' influence on stock prices, the effect of an individual investor is more like that of a mouse.
Contrarian investors specialize in doing the opposite of the elephants, that is, buying when institutions are selling, and selling when institutions are buying.
Related Links
Economics Basics Tutorial
Institutional Investors And Fundamentals: What's The Link?
See also: Block Trade, Contrarian, Institutional Investor, Mutual Fund
elephant