What a death cross is
A death cross is the mirror image of a golden cross: the 50-day moving average falls below the 200-day. It signals that medium-term momentum has rolled over relative to the long-term trend.
How to read it
- Like the golden cross, it's a lagging signal — it confirms weakness that's already underway rather than predicting it.
- Whipsaws happen in choppy markets; context (volume, the 200-day slope) matters.
How we use it
A stock with its 50-day below its 200-day is in a defensive long-term posture in our read. We weigh that alongside RSI, MACD and distance to the 200-day.