Define a crossover event
For a long-only example, a bullish crossover occurs when the fast average was at or below the slow average on the previous bar and is above it on the current completed bar. Specify the exit separately. Merely being above an average is different from crossing it.
Complete the specification
Choose the price field, averaging method, lookback lengths, warm-up period and execution time. State whether an exit returns to cash and how distributions are treated. The SMA indicator guide explains the arithmetic separately.
What to inspect in a test
Inspect turnover, costs and behavior in sideways periods. Compare neighboring parameter choices and a suitable passive benchmark. This guide publishes no backtest: no parameter pair is described here as optimal or proven profitable.
Turn the method into your research brief
Open the editable template, replace its assumptions and export the rules before implementing a test.
Use this template ↗Sources & references
References support specific definitions or methodological context. Examples and research checklists are explanatory; no performance result is claimed.