Knowledge center · Technical analysis
Golden / death cross
The 50-day average crossing above (golden) or below (death) the 200-day — the most-watched long-term trend change signal.
Formula
Cross of SMA(50) through SMA(200).
Interpretation
A golden cross says the medium-term trend has overtaken the long-term one — historically associated with the early phase of durable uptrends. A death cross is the mirror image.
What good looks like
A recent golden cross with price holding above both averages.
What bad looks like
A recent death cross, especially with volume confirming the decline.
Typical range
Binary event; the engine reports one only when it printed within the last 60 trading days.
Limitations
Extremely lagging: by the time a cross prints, a large part of the move has often happened. Frequent false signals in range-bound markets.
How OmniSignal uses it
It is the single most-followed trend signal in markets — when it prints, it moves positioning whether or not one believes in it.
Where it enters the score
Not a scoring input — reported for trend context only.
References
Brock, Lakonishok & LeBaron (1992), Journal of Finance
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