ValueLine Investment Service Beyond the Basics

What You Will Learn u How to navigate through the service. u What each of the six publications cover. u What type of investments ValueLine covers. u How to customize reports. u How to use the Help and FAQs

ValueLine Research Center u ValueLine Investment Survey u ValueLine Mutual Funds Survey u ValueLine Daily Options Survey u ValueLine Electronic Convertibles u ValueLine Special Situations Service

Navigation u When viewing one of the publications, you can use the options, on the left, under Research to navigate to another area. u Support offers FAQs, how to guides, and a glossary to help you use the Research Center.

ValueLine Investment Survey Stock Reports With All Features of the Print Version Plus Full Search Capabilities, Sort Options, and Customizable Reports.

What Is a Stock? u The certificates representing ownership in a corporation. u Common stock – Class of corporate ownership usually entitled to vote for the board of directors and other issues of importance. u Preferred Stock – A class of stock on which a company must pay a dividend before any dividend can be paid on the company's common stock. From Ebsco Business Source PremiereBusiness Source Premiere

Survey Issues u Reports on approximately 260 companies per issue. u Selection and Opinion - a newsletter with ValueLine’s opinions on stocks. u All other features of the standard and Small & Midcap editions of ValueLine.

Searching the Survey for Companies u To search for a company, click Lookup company on the left side of the screen. u Enter your search term(s) and select Company, Industry or Ticker to search.

Searching the Survey for Industries u An alphabetical list of all 100 industries in the survey comes up. u To search for an industry, click Lookup Industry on the left side of the screen.

Ratings and Reports u The default sort option is by company name. u Click on Ticker, Industry, or Timeliness to re-sort by those options.

Viewing Reports PDF HTM L u To view reports, click on either PDF or HTML for that report. u PDF will give you a representation of the print version of the report. u HTML gives you custom report print options. Choose one option at a time.

Rank Changes u Investors can view stocks whose timeliness or performance rank has changed in the past week.

Stock Screening u Investors can locate stocks by specifying criteria in the stock screener.

Top 100 u View stocks by a variety of top rankings including relative price performance (below) safety, and growth.

ValueLine Mutual Funds Survey Ratings and Reports on Over 2000 Mutual Funds With Expert Analysis and Ratings Based on Risk and Reward.

What Is a Mutual Fund? u An investment company that sells shares in itself to the public and uses the proceeds to purchase common stocks, bonds, and/or money market securities. From Ebsco Business Source PremiereBusiness Source Premiere

Survey Issues u Each issue reports on approximately 150 funds. u Performance and Index has news about mutual funds as well as the print index.

Searching for a Fund Family u To search for a fund family, click Lookup Fund Family on the left side of the screen. u Enter your search term(s) and click Search.

Searching for a Fund u To search for a fund, click Lookup Fund on the left side of the screen. u Enter your search term(s) and select Fund Name or Ticker.

Fund Screening u Users can identify funds by specifying search criteria.

Daily Options Survey Updated Daily, the Options Survey Offers Investors Advice on Purchasing Options.

What Is an Option? u Options give investors the privilege to either buy or sell 100 shares of a common stock within a period of time for a set price. u Investors buy call options, those giving you a right to buy stock, if they expect the price to rise. u They buy put options, those giving you the right to sell, if thy expect the price to fall.

Interactive Options u Enter a ticker symbol to look up options and click submit.

Results u Select result(s) to view by checking the boxes

Option Profile u Gives detailed information on the selected option. u Click Option Profile Definitions to find out about each item.

Interpreting Ticker Codes From u Each ticker symbol is followed by codes indicating month and strike date.

Option Templates u Pre-defined Excel templates to track options and make calculations. Instructions are in the Reports.

Rankings for Stocks and Options Stocks and options are ranked from the buyer’s perspective by ValueLine. u 1 Best – Best for Buyer, Worst for Seller u 2 Above Average – Good for Buyer, Worst for Seller u 3 Average – Neutral u 4 Below Average – Good for Seller, Worst for Buyer u 5 Worst – Best for Seller, Worst for Buyer

ValueLine Electronic Convertibles Evaluation and Analysis of Over 600 Convertible Securities with Buy, Hold and Sell Recommendations.

What is a Convertible? u Convertibles are bonds or preferred stock which can be converted to another security such as a company’s common stock. u The option to convert usually lasts the lifetime of the bond or preferred stock and can be exchanged at anytime, usually without cost.

Convertibles Survey u View current, Daily, or back issues on convertibles.

Daily Convertibles u Enter your search term(s) and select Ticker or Convertible Name. Alternately, Click Show All Convertibles.

Convertible Profile u Provides information and statistics for the convertible.

Especially Recommended u Part of the Convertibles Survey is a list of Especially Recommended convertibles. As with most of the convertible information, this is in PDF format.

Especially Recommended Groups u All convertibles and warrants on the list are ranked 1 (Highest) and are divided into four groups based on profit potential and risk: – Warrants – High Risk – Above Avg. Profit Potential – Above Avg. Volatility – Modest Profit Potential – Modest Volatility – Modest Profit Potential – Low Volatility

ValueLine Special Situations Service Profiles of High-Risk, Fast Growing, Small Companies Recommended for Investment.

ValueLine Special Situations Service u Emphasizes small fast-growing companies with the ability to generate strong earnings growth over 3-5 years. u Special Situation investing is considered high risk.

Features u Published twice a month it includes: – A four page new recommendation report at least once a month where a new company is profiled. – A summary-index with recommendations on current situations. – Supervisory reviews on previous recommendations.

Current Special Situations u Click to view the PDF of the issue you wish to view.

New Recommendation u New companies receive a four page review which includes company financials.

Supervisory Reviews u About 10 previously reviewed companies have their reviews updated in each issue.

Ratings u Each situation receives one of four ratings: – Especially Recommended – Buy – Buy/Hold – Hold the stock if you own it. Some investors may wish to purchase. – Hold – If you own the stock, hold it. Do not buy. – Switch - Sell

Calculators Plan Your Investments.

u Offers a number of options to help plan investing.

Support From FAQs to a University.

FAQs u Information on print and electronic products including explanations of ranks and coverage.

How to Invest Guides u Guides for investors on using the ValueLine publications.

How to Read the ValueLine Pages u Explains the print version pages of the Stock surveys and the Mutual Fund Survey.

Glossary of Investment Terms u A technical glossary explaining common investment terms.

ValueLine University u An in-depth instructional system for learning investing. Covers the basics, strategies, building a portfolio and studying stocks. u Available by clicking the Education tab.

Conclusion u If you have further questions, please contact Grace Lillevig, Training Librarian. u u