Moving Average


A moving average is a way to smooth out prices, or similar values, on a graph.  Rather than displaying the exact price of a stock at a certain time, you can average the current price with recent historical prices, and plot the result.  If you use more history, the graph will be further behind, but smoother.

There are several types of moving averages.  The most common types are the simple moving average (SMA), the exponential moving average (EMA), and the volume weighted average price (VWAP).

Traders can use moving averages in many different ways.  Our service generates alerts when a stock price crosses certain moving averages.

Alert Types

We offer the following alert types which are related to this topic.  Click on the icon for a detailed description of the alert, or click on the "more" link for additional examples of each type of alert.

Type Recent Examples More Examples
Time (NY) Symbol Message
Crossed above 200 day moving averageMar 12th, 4:20:21 PMATD.B.CATPrice crossed above 200 day SMA (18.3626). Confirmed by volume.more
Crossed below 200 day moving averageMar 12th, 4:19:49 PMLGALPrice crossed below 200 day SMA (0.0083). Confirmed by volume.more
Crossed above 50 day moving averageMar 12th, 4:23:00 PMGLGPrice crossed above 50 day SMA (2.9834). Confirmed by volume.more
Crossed below 50 day moving averageMar 12th, 4:19:16 PMSOLUPrice crossed below 50 day SMA (0.024). Confirmed by volume.more
Crossed above 20 day moving averageMar 12th, 4:46:46 PMFNM-SPrice crossed above 20 day SMA (1.0655). Confirmed by volume.more
Crossed below 20 day moving averageMar 12th, 4:27:19 PMMSGPrice crossed below 20 day SMA (19.4975). Confirmed by volume.more
Crossed above VWAPMar 12th, 4:56:49 PMOTEPrice crossed above VWAP (6.5716). Confirmed by volume.more
Crossed below VWAPMar 12th, 7:28:07 PMUSEGPrice crossed below VWAP (6.3875). Confirmed by volume.more

See Also

Death Cross, Exponential Moving Average, Golden Cross, Simple Moving Average, VWAP