A plain-English explainer — then the honest backtest, because knowing what it is isn't the same as knowing whether it works.
A moving average smooths price into a single trend line. A Simple Moving Average (SMA) weighs every day in the window equally; an Exponential Moving Average (EMA) weighs recent days more, so it reacts faster to fresh moves.
Most moving-average strategies are crossovers (a faster average crossing a slower one) or reclaims (price crossing back above a key average like the 200-day). Faster EMAs give earlier signals but more false ones; slower SMAs lag but whipsaw less.
Across honest backtests, moving-average strategies range from fragile to genuinely robust depending on the lengths and the market. The lengths matter more than SMA-vs-EMA ever does.
Does moving averages (SMA vs EMA) actually work?
Don't take the textbook's word for it — see the honest, survivorship-free score.
See the honest backtest →the 200-day average · the 20/50 EMA cross · the 20/50 SMA cross · the 50-day average · all strategies →
A moving average smooths price into a single trend line. A Simple Moving Average (SMA) weighs every day in the window equally; an Exponential Moving Average (EMA) weighs recent days more, so it reacts faster to fresh moves. Most moving-average strategies are crossovers (a faster average cr
On its own, moving averages (SMA vs EMA) is an indicator, not a guarantee. We backtested the strategies built on it with survivorship-free data — see the honest scores linked below.
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Educational, not financial advice. An honest backtest score measures whether a result survives statistical scrutiny — it does not predict future profit, and is not a buy or sell signal. · About · FAQ · All strategies