Timeliness
The Timeliness rank is Value Line's measure of the expected price performance of a stock for the coming six to 12 months relative to our approximately 1,700 stock universe. Stocks ranked 1 (Highest) and 2 (Above Average) are likely to perform best relative to the approximately 1,700 stocks we follow. Stocks ranked 3 are likely to be average performers. Stocks ranked 4 (Below Average) and 5 (Lowest) are likely to underperform stocks ranked 1 through 3 in Value Line's universe.

At any one time, there are 100 stocks ranked 1; 300 ranked 2; approximately 900 ranked 3; 300 ranked 4; and 100 ranked 5.

Value Line has published Timeliness ranks for more than 33 years. Twice a year, in January and July, the results of the performance of the Timeliness ranks are published in Selection & Opinion. Overall, the results have been truly outstanding. Mark Hulbert, a Forbes columnist who studies the performance of investment publications, has written that over a 17-year period, The Value Line Investment Survey "...is in first place for risk adjusted performance."

The most important factor in determining the Timeliness rank is earnings growth. Companies whose earnings growth over the past 10 years has been greater than their stocks' price appreciation tend to have high scores. In addition, the ranks take into account a stock's recent price performance relative to all approximately 1,700 stocks in the Value Line universe. A company's recent quarterly earnings performance and any recent earnings surprises caused because a company reported results that were significantly better or worse than expected are also factors. They are combined to determine the Timeliness rank.

Just one word of caution. Stocks ranked 1 for Timeliness are often more volatile than the overall market and tend to have smaller capitalizations (the total value of a company's outstanding shares, calculated by multiplying the number of shares outstanding by the stock's price per share). Conservative investors may want to select stocks that also have high Safety ranks because they are more stable issues.

Industry
Value Line also publishes Industry ranks which show the Timeliness of each industry. The Industry ranks indicate how Value Line believes the prices of stocks within 90 or more industries will perform relative to each other. These ranks are updated weekly and published on the front cover and inside the Summary & Index. They also appear at the top of each Industry Report in Ratings & Reports. The Industry rank is calculated by averaging the Timeliness ranks of each of the stocks assigned a Timeliness rank in a particular industry.

Safety
The Safety rank is a measure of the total risk of a stock compared to others in our approximately 1,700 stock universe. As with Timeliness, Value Line ranks each stock from 1 (Highest) to 5 (Lowest). However, unlike Timeliness, the number of stocks in each category from 1 to 5 may vary. The Safety rank is derived from two measurements (weighted equally) found in the lower right hand corner of each page: a Company's Financial Strength and a Stock's Price Stability. Financial Strength is a measure of the company's financial condition, and is reported on a scale of A++ (highest) to C (lowest). The largest companies with the strongest balance sheets get the highest scores. Price Stability is based on a ranking of the standard deviation (a measure of volatility) of weekly percent changes in the price of a company's own stock over the last five years, and is reported on a scale of 100 (highest) to 5 (lowest) in increments of 5. Generally speaking, stocks with Safety ranks of 1 and 2 are most suitable for conservative investors. A stock's Price Growth Persistence and a company's Earnings predictability are also included in the box above, but do not factor into the Safety rank. However, they are useful statistics.

Technical
The Technical rank is primarily a predictor of a stock's short term (three to six months) relative price change. It is based on a proprietary model which examines 10 relative price trends for a particular stock over different periods in the past year. It also takes into account the price volatility of each stock. The Technical ranks also range from 1 (Highest) to 5 (Lowest). At any one time, about 100 stocks are ranked 1; 300 ranked 2; 900 ranked 3; 300 ranked 4; and 100 ranked 5.