Long term investors are always looking for a key clues as to what a stock may do next. One of those clues is trend. Is the stock currently trending in the direction they are wanting to bet? Another is trend duration. How long has a stock been trending in this direction? Finally, they would be eager to identify the strength of the trend. Is it a wild uptrend with many peaks and valleys along the way? Or is a smooth trend that is slow and steady?
No matter how you wish to analyze a stock, if you are investing for the long term it is highly likely that you would use a chart that is set to the weekly time period. Since you are not concerned with the day to day movements then this is the next likely chart that investors tend to choose. Only around major events, such as earnings would one want to "zoom in" to the lower time frames.
The power of the trend that you spot on the weekly time period is what is in question today. Let's assume that you wish to participate in the trend and not try and bet against it. One of the things you want to identify is a slow moving, consistent trending stock. The way this would look on a chart would be a slightly upward tilting stock that never has large up or down weeks.
To better paint a power trend picture many investors will use shorter moving averages to act as a line that is smoothing out the trend. If you were to choose the 20 period weekly moving average you could quickly see whether the trend is smooth or not. A 20 moving average that looks like a winding road would not be indicative of a power trend. A moving average that looks like a rubber band stretched to its max is what you are looking for.
Identifying a power trend can yield many months of stress free returns. Analyze carefully and enjoy the ride!