Quant Investing historical screener – screen point in time data
As I wrote to you at the end of May…
Every day since 4 December 2015 we have saved every ratio for all the
companies in the screener. This means every day we saved 110 ratios of
22,000 companies.
Why are we doing this? A point in time database
Why are we doing this and how can this help you?
The reason is to build up a past database of actual ratios and indicators
on a specific day - also known as a point in time database.
The data does not go back very far yet, only till 4 December 2015. But this
is just over 3.5 years. It’s a good start and it grows every day.
You can now screen in the past!
We have just finished the initial development and the point in time
database is available for you to test drive.
This means you can go back in time and see exactly what
companies fit your investment strategy and how they have performed.
This is not using calculated back test values but actual values as they
were in the past thus no look-ahead or survivorship biases.
How to screen the past
This is how you can start using the historical point in time database.
I expand on all these points below but here are the steps if you know the
screener:
- Login and load the screener
- Set up or load a screen
- Click the Historical Screener icon
- Select the date in the past you want the screener results for
- Click Confirm to get the historical screener results
Detailed steps to follow
Here are the detailed steps for you to screen in the past point in time
data.
1. Login and Set up or load a saved screen
For instructions on exactly how to log in and set up a screen look at this
article:How to run your first screen with the Quant Investing screener
2. Get historical results of your screen
Once you have run your screen and you have a list of companies that fit the
screen criteria you are ready to go back in time.
To do this click on the Historical Screener icon to open the
Historical Screener date selector.

To select the date you would like to screen for click the date selector
icon.
To select dates further in the past click the blue left arrow or click on
the heading “JULY 2019” in the below screenshot.
After selecting the date click Confirm to get the historical screener
results.
That is all you have to do to screen past results.
If there is No Data
Even thought you can only select weekdays in the point in time database it may be that the day you selected was a market holiday. This may be the case around the start of the year.
If it was a market holiday you will see a "No data" message like this:

If you do get the No data message simply select a day before or after the date you selected.
Remember it’s still in beta – your suggestions welcome
As we have just made it available there may be a few bugs we missed.
If you find anything that does not look right or if you have a suggestion
on how we can improve the historical screener please let us know.
PS
Not a subscriber to the Quant Investing stock screener yet? Sign up here.
PPS
Why not sign up right now before it slips your mind?