Home / ml4t / skills · concepts/point-in-time/SKILL.md · GitHub

ml4t-point-in-time skillA

ml4t-point-in-time is agent-read markdown (skill) from ml4t/skills: Ensure data reflects what was known at each decision point, not revised or restated values. Use when joining fundamental, macro, or alternative data to price series..

Indexed from public GitHub and served as immutable, content-addressed versions. Install it pinned to an exact SHA-256 with the mdr CLI, and every file is verified against the hash recorded here before it reaches your agent. The deterministic audit below grades the latest version, and the same file always earns the same grade.

What the file says

# Point-in-Time Correctness

Joining data by event date instead of availability date uses information that did not exist yet, inflating backtest returns by 1-3% annually on fundamental strategies.

## The Problem

Fundamental data has two timestamps: when the economic event occurred (quarter-end) and when the data became publicly available (SEC filing date, press release, data vendor publication). Using the event date treats revised, delayed, or embargoed data as if it were available in real time.

Example: Apple's Q4 2024 revenue (period ending Dec 31) is filed with the SEC on Jan 31, 2025. A model that joins revenue on Dec 31 uses data 31 days before it existed.

Macro data has the same problem: GDP is released ~30 days after quarter-end and revised two to three times over the following months.

## The Pattern

### WRONG

```python
import polars as pl

# Join fundamentals on the quarter they describe
prices = pl.read_parquet("prices.parquet")
fundamentals = pl.read_parquet("fundamentals.parquet")

df = prices.join(
    fundamentals,
    left_on=["symbol", "timestamp"],
    right_on=["symbol", "quarter_end"],    # uses event date
    how="left",
)
```

### CORRECT

```python
…

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How to install

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mdr add ml4t/skills/ml4t-point-in-time@git:20260901.c415df0
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Audit of the latest version

A  17 of 17 checks passed. Deterministic, no model, same answer every run.
  • pass: Frontmatter block present
  • pass: Frontmatter declares a name
  • pass: Frontmatter declares a description
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  • pass: No prompt-injection phrasing
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Source

GitHub

ml4t/skills · 19 stars · license Apache-2.0 · pushed 2026-09-24 · branch main

API

GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_uvuoqpf3besgpi7w
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=ml4t/skills/ml4t-point-in-time
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/cff8e72b709d54bed7bbc1edc3387fafa6a8a4191326cd1844ff6dd65c9be697

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