Editing Value Line (section)

==History==
The "Value Line" was a line representing a multiple of cash flow that Bernhard would visually "fit" or superimpose over a price chart. This was a pioneering attempt to normalize the value of different companies. He soon began publishing his investment survey. Bernhard published ''The Evaluation of Common Stocks'' in 1959.

In 1946 Bernhard hired Samuel Eisenstadt as a proofreader, a graduate of [[Baruch College]] who majored in statistics. In 1965 Eisenstadt convinced Bernhard to use a statistical method called [[ordinary least squares]] (OLS) regression analysis to replace Bernhard's visual method of fitting cash flow to a price chart. Using scores of [[Monroe Systems for Business|Monroe]] [[Mechanical calculator|mechanical calculators]] and a handful of data operators, Bernhard and Eisenstadt produced a stock picking system that caught the attention of academic [[Fischer Black]] of the [[University of Chicago]]. Black  published an article in the ''[[Financial Analysts Journal]]'', "Yes, Virginia, There Is Hope: Tests of the Value Line Ranking System" in 1973.<ref>{{Cite journal |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4529615 |title=Yes, Virginia, There Is Hope: Tests of the Value Line Ranking System |jstor=4529615 |access-date=2017-09-17 |archive-date=2018-01-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180118144641/http://www.jstor.org/stable/4529615 |url-status=live |last1=Black |first1=Fischer |last2=Kaplan |first2=Robert S. |journal=Financial Analysts Journal |year=1973 |volume=29 |issue=5 |pages=10–92 }}</ref> The system came to be known as the "Value Line Ranking System for Timeliness".<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.marketwatch.com/story/correct-sam-eisenstadts-remarkable-research-legacy | title=The wisdom that comes with age | first=Mark | last=Hulbert | author-link=Mark Hulbert | work=[[Marketwatch]] | date=May 5, 2005 | access-date=June 29, 2019 | archive-date=June 29, 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190629025543/https://www.marketwatch.com/story/correct-sam-eisenstadts-remarkable-research-legacy | url-status=live }}</ref> With Eisenstadt on board, Bernhard continued to expand the business, adding the other publications and mutual funds along the way. In May 1983, Value Line sold stock for the public for the first time ({{NASDAQ|VALU}}), though the Bernhard family retained 80% control.

Bernhard died in December 1987, but until his death, Bernhard continued his literary interests by combining with W. H. Auden, Jacques Barzun and Lionel Trilling in founding the Mid-Century Book Society.

Shortly after his death, his daughter, [[Jean Buttner]], was named [[CEO]] of Value Line.