The crosses
A 'golden cross' is when the 50-day MA crosses above the 200-day — often cited as a bullish shift. A 'death cross' is the 50-day dropping below the 200-day — a bearish one. They mark a change in the medium-vs-long-term trend balance.
Because both averages lag, the cross happens well after the low or high. It's a trend-confirmation, not a bottom- or top-picker. Treat headlines screaming 'death cross!' with the skepticism they deserve.
Whipsaws in the range
Crossovers work in trends and fail badly in sideways markets, where the two averages tangle and cross back and forth, generating loss after loss. This is the central weakness of every MA system — and why they're paired with a trend filter or volatility check.
Reading a cross in context
A golden/death cross is a summary of a trend change that's already underway, not a bottom- or top-signal. Ask where it happens: a cross far from a range, confirmed by structure and volume, means more than one printed in the middle of choppy, overlapping candles.
The whipsaw problem
In a sideways market the two averages tangle and cross back and forth, handing you loss after loss — this is the central weakness of every crossover system. If you trade crosses, add a filter (trend strength, volatility, or higher-timeframe agreement) and accept that most of the profit comes from a few big trends while the rest scratch.