Golden Cross / Death Cross

There is a short moving average (e.g. the 50-day) showing the price's "recent flow" and a long one (e.g. the 200-day) showing the "long flow." The moment the short line breaks up through the long line from below is called a golden cross.

Conversely, the moment the short line breaks down through the long line from above is a death cross. Think of it as naming "the junctions where the flow's direction changes."

It shows at a glance whether the recent mood (short line) has overtaken the big flow so far (long line). It is widely used to gauge whether a trend is about to turn up or down.

The 50-day/200-day crossing is the most talked about. Because many people watch the same lines, that itself can become a signal that draws market attention.

A golden cross is the short flow rising above the long flow, so it is commonly read as a turn into an uptrend.

A death cross is the opposite, read as a turn into a downtrend. But both result from a crossing of averages of "already past prices," so they appear a beat late.