What it is
A golden cross is the day a stock's 50-day moving average rises above its 200-day moving average. A death cross is the opposite: the 50-day falls below the 200-day. Both use simple averages of the daily close, and both are among the most quoted chart events in financial news.
Why traders watch it
The 200-day average covers about ten months of trading and the 50-day about ten weeks. When the shorter one moves above the longer one, the price has been higher lately than over the longer stretch for long enough to drag the average across. Many long-term investors and funds track the 200-day average, which is part of why its crosses get attention.
How traders read it
Both averages move slowly, so a cross comes weeks after the turn in the price that caused it. In a choppy market the two lines can cross several times in a few months. Traders often read a cross together with the slope of the 200-day average and where the price sits against it, rather than on its own.
The cross on Breakaway
Every public stock page shows the 50-day and 200-day averages and the date the 50-day last crossed the 200-day. Members can draw both on the chart, with the last cross marked and named. The cross does not count toward the Quality Score. The score's long-term trend line does read the price against the 200-day exponential average, and whether that average is rising.