What is a Weekly Chart?

A weekly chart is a financial analyst's tool used to track the value movement of stocks, commercial entities, and other economic indicators. Summaries of each week's changes are recorded throughout the year for a more comprehensive perspective of activity than simply reviewing day-to-day numbers. Generally a weekly chart is evaluated by analysts who are searching for trends in financial growth or stagnation. Some varieties of a weekly chart are more detailed than others, and many are translated into easily readable graphs.

Closely following the up and down indicators within a single day generally gives a financial analyst a false impression of the tendencies of the commodity. Graphs and charts that include a week's worth of activity information generally show the true nature of a financial pattern. In many cases, the weekly chart is combined with data from past weeks to produce a chart that shows the change between the weeks of a quarter or year. Technical analysis of multiple years of weekly charting is sometimes used to predict trends and make moves to benefit the company or investor.

A graph representation of weekly chart activity that shows the figures from the start and end of the week and the highest and lowest points that were reached is called a weekly candlestick chart. The four key figures — open, high, low, and close — are often abbreviated OHLC. The open and close numbers are charted to form a vertical rectangle that looks like a candle, and the high and low figures are added to the chart as wicks extending from the top and bottom of the rectangle. A candlestick chart is a type of OHLC chart that provides an analyst with enough information to understand the week's overall change as well as how far it swang in either direction to reach that point.

Weekly bar charts often contain only the high, low, and close numbers. A vertical line is drawn from the highest point to the lowest point that was reached within that week. A horizontal line is added to this variety of weekly chart to show the position of the asset at week's end. As bars are added to represent the activity of each weekly chart, a clearer picture of financial momentum is easy to understand at a glance. Bar charts are less cluttered than candlestick charts, which often makes them the first choice when evaluating weekly chart data over a period of several years.