Anyone using Value Line on iPad? + few other questions

[Liberty]

So I'm more and more tempted to subscribe to Value Line Small Caps, but I'm hesitating between the paper and just the online version (which is cheaper).

 

I like having the paper to leaf through, but I was thinking that with the new iPad 3 coming out soon (almost assuredly with a super-high-res screen), maybe I could just get the online subscription and use the iPad.

 

So here's what I'm curious about:

 

-Is the 'online' subscription a bunch of PDFs you can download? Is it HTML on the site?

-How does it work when you want to go to the page for company #5674? Is there a clickable index in the PDFs or whatever? Do you have to flip pages all the way to page #5674?

 

Any other pros or cons of the online version that you've noticed? Any reason why paper is an absolute must?

 

Thanks!

[west]

I can only speak for the main Value Line Investment Survey.  Basically, every week you receive five categories of information:

 

- Ratings & Reports

- Selection & Opinion

- Summary & Index

- Std. R&R Cover Page

- Std. R&R Supplementary

 

The "Ratings & Reports" section is split into one page PDFs for every company.  All the other sections are one, multiple page, PDFs.  The formatting works pretty well on an iPad (v1 in my case.  I'm cheap.)

 

However, I still prefer my paper format :).  There's nothing like sitting down with a cup of coffee and flipping through a Value Line, comparing companies, for a few hours.  And you'll get fast at it.  I don't think the whole one PDF per company format would lend itself to quick, multi-company analysis very well.  (Also, you still have access to the online PDFs with the print subscription.  So you can save off the PDFs if you want to.)

 

That being said, the dead tree stuff does pile up fast if you're not good at managing it!

[berkshiremystery]

Well,... I bought myself last fall an iPad2 (with 3G and 64GB memory). Since I am cheap and like to look for bargains, I had bought it on eBay for 20% off the MSRP. I'm addicted to use it to read annual reports and other research reports in PDF-format, and specially my Value Line Investment Survey digital subscription that I have for almost a decade. The only disadvantage is that Value Line uploads all the single research pages not in "one big PDF-file" that contains the whole week (130 pages or something). They are probably concerned about copyright infringement, so they have each week, 130 "single" PDF-files on their website. This is for me some troublesome work each week, clicking each week for over half an hour (with my mouse on 130 "single PDF-files", downloading them, sorting them myself, and putting them together in the right original lineup with a PDF editor software. I takes about 15 seconds for each file to click, copy and paste, and assign a file name, thus about 4 files a minute, 120 files in half an hour. After that I work another 20-30 minutes with some PDF editor software to bring them back into the original lineup of the hardcopy edition, part 1, 2 and 3.

 

Currently, I have my 64GB memory about 1/3 full, with probably 500 to 1000 PDF files in my iBooks app (all BRK, FFH, LUK, BAC, old OID's, of course all Sanjeev's and Mohnish's partner letters, old Graham letters, Value insight, etc.)... and maybe over 700 apps (yeah, I probably only use 1% of them regularly, but I like to have all sorts of helpful apps just in case I need some search tools in case of some emergency).

 

 

[twacowfca]

I hate it!  Too many clicks to get what you want, not to mention persistant failure to automatically recognize subscriber ID.

 

Does anyone have a tip for solving this automatic subscriber recognition difficulty that seems to be  especially problematic with the ipad and iphone on many expensive subscription sites compared to auto recognition software for subscriber ID thats available for regular computers?

 

Any help would be much appreciated.

[Liberty]

Has anyone heard anything about Value Line creating a iPad/iPhone app? Not sure how tech-savvy they are, but it could solve a lot of user interface problems...

 

Still, I'm tempted to go with the print version. You still get the online access with it, so nothing lost..

[mankap]

I have never used Valueline.Many people on the board have used valueline.

Which one would you recommend Investment survey or small and midcap value

[twacowfca]

I have never used Valueline.Many people on the board have used valueline.

Which one would you recommend Investment survey or small and midcap value

 

The Investment Survey has a nice, brief report on each company written by a financial analyst and updated about every one or two months as well as most of the key financial metrics and ratios in a nice chart going back about 15 years.  You get all that on one page at a glance!

 

The metrics on the small/midcap version aren't as spiffy and the brief financial analyst's report is replaced by what is merely a description of the company.

[berkshiremystery]

I have never used Valueline.Many people on the board have used valueline.

Which one would you recommend Investment survey or small and midcap value

 

Certainly their flagship publication, which is the "The Value Line Investment Survey – Standard Edition" (approximately 1,700 stocks are covered: like all Dow and S&P 500 stocks and a lot of smaller companies and also a few foreign ADR's). "The Value Line Investment Survey – Standard Edition" is their oldest publication, dating back from the 1930's, it's the thing to have from them,... sort of like the the original Coke, the real thing.

 

"The Value Line Investment Survey - Small and Mid-Cap Edition" was only introduced more than half a century later in 1995, as an attachment to their  flagship "Standard Edition". In the "Small and Mid-Cap Edition"  are approximately 1,800 small and medium-capitalization stocks, many listed on The NASDAQ Stock Market.

 

I would probably estimate that they have their majority of subscribers in their "Standard Edition" and only a few take the "Small and Mid-Cap Edition".

 

They also offer a few weeks as an trial subscription.

 

hope this helps

 

 

[Packer16]

I get the standard version as I can get similar info as small/mid cap from  Morningstar for less $ and also get bond/preferred and option info.  With standard version (hard copy) I can compare companies and get a veiw on what is happening in various industries. 

 

Packer

[racemize]

Regarding the one large PDF issue--I create one every week as well, and I've got it down to about three minutes of work. The key is using a download manager for the single sheet PDFs. E.,g., I use "down them all" Firefox extension.  I would make them available, but i wouldn't feel good about it unless I was providing it to subscribers.

[west]

I have never used Valueline.Many people on the board have used valueline.

Which one would you recommend Investment survey or small and midcap value

 

In my opinion, the standard survey is great.  I can't imagine where my thinking would be today if I hadn't subscribed to it and read it religiously every week.

 

That being said, I was underwhelmed by the small/midcap edition.  There's nothing beyond basic fundamentals presented for all companies in it.  I'm pretty sure you can get the same information it provides from gurufocus, with just a little bit of tweaking.  I canceled my subscription after my trial ran out.

[spartansaver]

For those that have found significant value out of reading Value Line, what was your method? I recently ordered it and I find it slightly daunting. With 130 companies each week, I'm not sure if I'm retaining much.