200day

200day is a shorthand term commonly used in financial markets to refer to the 200-day moving average, a long-term momentum indicator widely followed by traders and analysts. It represents the mean price over roughly the last 200 trading days and appears as a line on price charts to help identify the prevailing trend.

The simple moving average (SMA) version sums the closing prices of the last 200 trading days and divides by 200. Many charting platforms also provide the 200-day exponential moving average (EMA), which weights recent days more heavily to respond more quickly to price changes.

Interpretation centers on trend and signals. When price trades above the 200-day moving average, the market is generally viewed as being in a long-term uptrend; when below, in a downtrend. The line can act as dynamic support or resistance. Crossovers with shorter-term averages, such as the 50-day or 20-day moving averages, are commonly watched for potential trade signals. A bullish signal is often described as a shorter-term average crossing above the 200-day (a golden cross), while a bearish signal involves the opposite crossover (a death cross).

Limitations include its lagging nature and sensitivity to market regime. As a long-term indicator, it reflects past price action and may generate false signals in ranging or choppy markets. It is typically used in conjunction with other analysis tools, such as volume or momentum indicators, rather than as a stand-alone predictor.

In practice, the 200-day moving average is widely applied to equities, ETFs, indices, futures, and other asset classes. Related concepts include other moving averages, such as the 50-day and 100-day averages.