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1997issue C061-2

Construction of a filtered three-average crossover

This construction stacks a fast line, a slow line, and a longer filter line on the same price series so a two-line crossover can enter, exit, or stand aside as one procedure.

  • The stack uses three simple averages of the same price series: a fast line, a slow line, and a longer filter line.
  • Default lookbacks are 9 bars for the fast average, 50 for the slow average, and 80 for the filter average.
  • A long or short opens only when the fast average crosses the slow average and the close agrees with the filter average; the opposite cross closes the trade while that agreement holds.
  • Crossover logic fires on the state change, the three-line overlay shares the price scale, and the same conditions can screen for a newly printed signal.
Entries in this reading3 entries
Current trackMoving-average crossover108 readingsRule-based entry174 readingsMoving average449 readings

A three-line stack on one series

The construction stacks three simple averages of the same price series: a fast line, a slow line, and a longer filter line.

Each line is a moving average, a lookback average of ordered closing prices used as a baseline or a filter. The stated default lookbacks are 9 bars for the fast average, 50 for the slow average, and 80 for the filter average.

Long and short rules

A moving-average crossover is a signal formed when a shorter average of price crosses a longer average of the same series.

A long opens when the fast average crosses above the slow average and the close is above the filter average. That long closes when the fast average crosses back below the slow average while the close remains above the filter average.

A short opens when the fast average crosses below the slow average and the close is below the filter average, and it closes on the opposite cross while the close remains below the filter.

The filter average is a third, slower average that must agree with the close before a crossover is acted on.

History, scale, and the state change

Any implementation must keep enough history to compute the longest average referenced, which is 80 bars in this construction.

An overlay of the three averages should share the price scale so the lines can be read against the chart.

Crossover logic should fire on the state change, not on every later bar that still satisfies the same inequality.

The same rules as a screen

The same long and short conditions can be reused as a screen for markets that just printed a new signal.

Educational research material, not investment advice. Historical source context does not establish present-day performance.
18 of 57 in the Moving-average crossover track
19981-7 pp.Next on Moving-average crossoverTwo-group exponential average compression as a trend filterExponential weighting loads more influence onto recent observations, which changes how longer lookbacks behave around turning points.
All readings on this track · 57 readings
  1. 1988Constructing moving averages: weights, smoothing and crossovers
  2. 1988Constructing breadth and average trend states
  3. 1989Evaluating an always-in-the-market moving-average crossover
  4. 1989Constructing symmetric market-breadth ratio accumulators
  5. 1989Objective crossover tests of Fibonacci wave ratios
  6. 1990Volume-adjusted moving average construction
  7. 1991Constructing a mechanical crossover on a synthetic price series
  8. 1991A two-speed breadth reading for intermediate market direction
  9. 1992A Deutschemark yield map with dual-average and relative-strength timing
  10. 1992Confirming currency-fund trends with a crossover and a filter
  11. 1992A moving-average slope filter for crossover signals
  12. 1992Occupancy and split-sample tests for average crossovers
  13. 1994Gold-mining seasonality and bond-fund duration switching
  14. 1994Price oscillator from two moving averages
  15. 1995Explicit exponential weights and binary entry filters
  16. 1996Currency futures crossover with slope, bond filter, and stop
  17. 1996Two-market average crossover entry with a fixed stop
  18. 1997Construction of a filtered three-average crossover
  19. 1998Two-group exponential average compression as a trend filter
  20. 1998Constructing r-squared trend filters with dual lookbacks
  21. 1998Moving-average length is a habit, not a secret
  22. 1999Solving the close that triggers a moving-average crossover
  23. 2000Kagi yang and yin control versus crossover noise
  24. 2000Constructing simple moving average crossover filters
  25. 2000Building a vertical-horizontal filter to gate trend signals
  26. 2000Two-average crossover as a check on trend following
  27. 2003Stacked exponential-average retracement entries and extreme stops
  28. 2003Evaluating oscillator thresholds against optimized crossovers
  29. 2004Constructing a semicycle trend-quality filter
  30. 2004Commodity subgroups labeled by crossover, support, or convergence
  31. 2004Full-window evaluation of crossover trend systems
  32. 2004Two-average trend filters as a classroom critique of indicator stacking
  33. 2005Three-layer confirmation from a moving-average cross, candles, and Q-stick
  34. 2005Charting put prices beside an equity breakdown
  35. 2005Range-gated moving-average crossover construction
  36. 2007Anticipating a simple-average crossover with a threshold-close
  37. 2007Anticipating moving-average crossovers one bar ahead
  38. 2007Lead-series moving-average crossovers with a stochastic and relative strength index
  39. 2007Next-bar SMA crossover hypotheses from theoretical crossing values
  40. 2007Anticipating a moving-average crossover before confirmation
  41. 2007A three-horizon moving-average stack as a construction problem
  42. 2007Confirming trend with regression slope and r-squared
  43. 2008Constructing a multi-timeframe smoothed crossover
  44. 2008Best-day clusters versus trend filters
  45. 2008Allied markets as a confirmation gate for crossover and breakout signals
  46. 2008Weekly exponential-average crossover as a mechanical trend case study
  47. 2010Evaluating a 200-day crossover as long, short, and stand-aside rules
  48. 2010Read a 10-and-40 trend on two neighboring time frames
  49. 2012Sampling unit as a first-class parameter on dual simple moving averages
  50. 2012Constructing index-ETF entries from volatility-index persistence
  51. 2013Moving-average baselines versus crossover signals
  52. 2013Constructing a typical-price and heikin-ashi crossover as one mechanical procedure
  53. 2016A three-gate checklist for longs after a sharp drop
  54. 2016Weekly inflation-ratio crossover for commodity regimes
  55. 2017Normalized Laguerre zero-axis warning as a two-marker construction
  56. 2019Range-weighted construction of an adaptive exponential moving average
  57. 2020Construct a second-pullback entry after a moving-average crossover
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All 108 readings tagged Moving-average crossover
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