What Are the 50-Day and 200-Day Moving Averages?

A moving average is the average closing price over a set number of days, recalculated daily. The 50-day shows the medium-term trend; the 200-day shows the long-term trend.

Why it matters for investors

Price above the 200-day average is widely read as a long-term uptrend. A 50-day crossing above the 200-day is called a golden cross; crossing below is a death cross.

Common questions

Simple or exponential moving average?

An exponential average gives more weight to recent prices, so it reacts faster than a simple average.