GlossarySMA 50

SMA 50

The SMA 50 is the simple average of the chart's last 50 closes. It shows the medium-term trend and is the fast half of the classic golden cross and death cross.

Calculation

Each of the 50 candles counts equally, 2% each. The line begins only at the 50th candle. It is calculated on the chart's candles: over 50 days on the daily chart, so about ten trading weeks for stocks and a little over seven weeks for crypto. The current candle counts with its current price.

What it is used for

  • As a medium-term trend filter: above a rising SMA 50, the trend counts as intact.
  • As closely watched support or resistance, especially on the daily chart.
  • In the golden cross and death cross: if the SMA 50 crosses the SMA 200 upward, that counts as the start of a long-term uptrend; downward, as the start of a downtrend. Both signals come late because of the length of the averages.

Settings

SettingDefaultEffect
Length501–500 candles. The menu name stays the same; the line label shows the new length.
Tip The Simple Moving Average (SMA) can calculate on a fixed Timeframe and, with Golden & Death Cross, marks the crossovers of the 50-day and 200-day SMA as rings.

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