Golden Cross Screener

By Christian Richter | Last updated 2026-09-23

The golden cross is one of the most watched technical signals in the market: the 50-day simple moving average crosses above the 200-day SMA, signaling that the short-term trend has turned positive relative to the long-term trend. The death cross is the opposite, signaling bearish momentum. Both are lagging indicators by design, they confirm a trend change after it has started, not before. Despite that limitation, institutional investors and media track them because they mark clear regime shifts. Shibui has pre-computed 50-day and 200-day SMAs for every US stock going back to 1962, so you can screen the entire market for recent crossovers, combine the signal with fundamental criteria, and backtest how the strategy performed historically.

What the screener checks

The signal explained

Honest caveat: the golden cross is a lagging indicator. By the time the 50-day SMA crosses the 200-day, the stock has typically rallied 20-30% from its low. Academic research on moving average crossover strategies shows mixed results. They reduce drawdowns in extended bear markets (2008, 2022) but underperform buy-and-hold in bull markets due to whipsaw signals and delayed re-entry. The signal works best as one factor among several, not as a standalone trigger.

Example screens

Claude compares each day's SMA 50 vs SMA 200 to the prior day and flags the exact crossover date. Typically 5 to 20 stocks cross in any given 5-day window for large caps. The results show the cross date, both SMA values, and the market cap so you can focus on liquid names.

This goes beyond the crossover itself and checks for trend alignment combined with momentum confirmation. The RSI filter avoids overbought names (above 70) and the MACD confirmation adds a second technical signal. Claude pulls all indicators from the same pre-computed dataset in one query.

Claude identifies every golden cross and death cross on SPY since 2010, computes the return for each long period (golden cross entry to death cross exit), and summarizes the strategy's total return vs buy-and-hold. This is the type of event-driven backtest that charting platforms can show visually but most cannot compute programmatically across the full history.

How it compares to other crossover tools

Most charting platforms show golden cross and death cross events on individual charts. Few can screen across the entire market for stocks that just crossed. None let you combine the signal with fundamental filters in a single natural language query.

TradingView is the strongest tool for real-time crossover alerts and custom Pine Script strategies. StockCharts has a dedicated scan engine for technical signals. If you want push notifications the moment a golden cross fires, those are the tools for that. If you want to screen the entire market for recent crosses combined with Piotroski F-Score, quality compounder criteria, earnings surprise data, or insider buying signals, and backtest how the combined signal performed over decades, Shibui handles that. See the AI stock screener overview for how Shibui compares on other screening approaches.

Want to run this screen daily on a schedule? See the automated stock screener workflow for scheduling commands and prompt reliability patterns.

Frequently asked questions

What is a golden cross in stocks?

A golden cross occurs when a stock's 50-day simple moving average crosses above its 200-day simple moving average. It is a widely watched bullish signal suggesting the short-term trend has turned positive relative to the long-term trend. The opposite, a death cross (50-day SMA crossing below the 200-day SMA), is a bearish signal. Both are lagging indicators since they rely on historical price averages.

Is there a free golden cross screener?

Shibui Finance is a free golden cross screener. Connect it to Claude (the free plan works) and ask for stocks where the 50-day SMA just crossed above the 200-day SMA. Claude checks the pre-computed moving averages across 10,000+ US stocks. There is no subscription. The trade-off: no real-time data, no automated alerts, and no push notifications when a cross happens. You define the criteria and Claude runs the screen.

How reliable is the golden cross signal?

The golden cross is a lagging indicator. By the time the 50-day SMA crosses the 200-day, the stock has typically already moved significantly from its low. Academic research on moving average crossover strategies shows mixed results: they reduce drawdowns during extended bear markets but underperform buy-and-hold during bull markets due to whipsaw signals and delayed entries. The signal works best as one factor among several, not as a standalone buy trigger.

Can you combine golden cross with fundamental filters?

Yes. On Shibui, you describe any combination in plain English. A common approach: screen for golden cross stocks with market cap above $5 billion, P/E under 25, positive free cash flow, and ROE above 12%. Claude combines the technical signal with fundamental criteria in one query. This is the type of cross-domain condition that most screeners cannot express.

Can you backtest the golden cross strategy on Shibui?

Yes. Shibui has pre-computed 50-day and 200-day SMAs going back to 1962 for every US stock. You can ask Claude to find every golden cross event on SPY since 2000, measure the return after each signal (30, 60, 90, 180 days), and compare to buy-and-hold. Survivorship bias applies for individual stocks, and the backtest does not account for trading costs or slippage.