Ran the quant-fund method (gradboost+ridge+IC+equal combining 13 weak cross-sectional signals) on liquid US equities. Single-split gradboost looked amazing (OOS +1.14, DSR 0.62) but leak-free WALK-FORWARD diagnostic: gradboost OOS predictive IC = 0.0041 (statistically ZERO; no leak; successful equity ML is 0.02-0.05). Single-split was overfit; WF +32 Sharpe was a variance-degeneracy; equal/ridge/IC all fail OOS. The ML combination does NOT work on efficient equities -- not because the ML is bad (works perfectly) but because there's no signal (IC 0.004) to combine. DEFINITIVE answer to 'millions of LOC of ML, why nothing?': the ML is not the missing piece, MARKET ACCESS is. Pointed the actual RenTech/TwoSigma method at liquid equities -> IC 0.004 = noise. ML amplifies signal, cannot create it; efficient markets have none. Crypto (less-efficient) is the one place the same machinery finds robust signal. Sophistication was never the bottleneck. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
124 lines
5.7 KiB
Python
124 lines
5.7 KiB
Python
#!/usr/bin/env python3
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"""The quant-fund method: combine MANY weak cross-sectional signals via a combiner ladder.
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Assemble ~13 weak signals on the liquid US-equity universe, then run a ladder of combiners
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from dumb to fancy and ask the disciplined question: does COMBINING beat the BEST SINGLE signal
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OOS, and does the nonlinear ML beat the LINEAR combiner OOS (or just overfit the 3.2y)?
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best-single -> equal-weight -> IC-weighted -> ridge(IS-fit) -> gradient-boost(IS-fit)
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Strict IS/OOS split, realistic illiquidity-scaled cost, weekly rebalance. Reject if the
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combination doesn't beat best-single + equal-weight OOS after deflation.
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"""
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import math
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import os
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import sys
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import numpy as np
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sys.path.insert(0, os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)))
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from equity_factor_gate import load, roll, trailing # noqa: E402
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from signal_sweep import xs_weights, validate, sharpe_t # noqa: E402
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from sklearn.linear_model import Ridge # noqa: E402
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from sklearn.ensemble import HistGradientBoostingRegressor # noqa: E402
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import torch # noqa: E402
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DEV = "cuda" if torch.cuda.is_available() else "cpu"
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DV_FLOOR, TOPK = 5e6, 1000
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def zc(x):
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mu = np.nanmean(x, axis=1, keepdims=True); sd = np.nanstd(x, axis=1, keepdims=True)
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return np.nan_to_num((x - mu) / np.where(sd > 0, sd, 1))
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def main():
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insts, days, close, dvol = load()
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T, N = close.shape
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lc = np.log(close)
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R = np.zeros((T, N)); R[1:] = lc[1:] - lc[:-1]; R = np.where(np.isfinite(R), R, 0.0)
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dv30 = roll(np.mean, np.nan_to_num(dvol), 30)
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vol63 = roll(np.std, R, 63)
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year = (1970 + days / 365.25).astype(int)
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univ = np.zeros((T, N), bool)
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for t in range(T):
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e = np.where((dv30[t] > DV_FLOOR) & np.isfinite(close[t]))[0]
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if len(e) > 50:
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univ[t, e[np.argsort(-dv30[t, e])[:TOPK]]] = True
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rmax252 = roll(np.max, lc, 252)
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amih = roll(np.mean, np.abs(R) / np.maximum(np.nan_to_num(dvol), 1.0), 21)
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# ~13 weak cross-sectional signals (each z-scored per day inside the universe)
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raw = {
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"mom_21": trailing(lc, 21), "mom_63": trailing(lc, 63), "mom_126": trailing(lc, 126),
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"mom_252": trailing(lc, 252), "rev_5": -trailing(lc, 5), "rev_10": -trailing(lc, 10),
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"lowvol": -vol63, "amihud": amih, "max20": -roll(np.max, R, 20),
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"accel": trailing(lc, 10) - trailing(lc, 63), "hi52": lc - rmax252,
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"vol_chg": roll(np.std, R, 21) - vol63, "skew63": -roll(lambda a, axis: ((a - a.mean(axis))**3).mean(axis) / (a.std(axis)**3 + 1e-9), R, 63),
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}
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names = list(raw)
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sig = np.stack([np.where(univ, v, np.nan) for v in raw.values()], axis=2) # [T,N,K]
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sigz = np.stack([zc(np.where(univ, v, np.nan)) for v in raw.values()], axis=2)
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K = len(names)
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fwd = np.full((T, N), np.nan); fwd[:-1] = R[1:] # next-day return
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split = int(0.65 * T)
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# pooled IS dataset for fitted combiners
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ist = np.zeros(T, bool); ist[:split] = True
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Xall = sigz.reshape(T * N, K)
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yall = fwd.reshape(T * N)
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rowok = np.isfinite(yall) & np.isfinite(Xall).all(1) & np.repeat(univ.reshape(T * N), 1)
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isrow = rowok & np.repeat(ist[:, None], N, 1).reshape(T * N)
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Xis, yis = Xall[isrow], yall[isrow]
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print(f"signals K={K}, universe/day~{int(univ.sum(1).mean())}, IS obs={len(yis):,}")
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ridge = Ridge(alpha=10.0).fit(Xis, yis)
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gb = HistGradientBoostingRegressor(max_depth=3, max_iter=120, learning_rate=0.05,
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l2_regularization=1.0, min_samples_leaf=200).fit(Xis, yis)
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comp_ridge = (sigz.reshape(T * N, K) @ ridge.coef_).reshape(T, N)
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Xpred = np.nan_to_num(sigz.reshape(T * N, K))
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comp_gb = gb.predict(Xpred).reshape(T, N)
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# IC-weighted (trailing 60d IC per signal, causal)
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comp_ic = np.zeros((T, N))
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for t in range(60, T):
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w = []
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for k in range(K):
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a = sigz[t - 60:t, :, k].reshape(-1); b = fwd[t - 60:t].reshape(-1)
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m = np.isfinite(a) & np.isfinite(b)
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w.append(np.corrcoef(a[m], b[m])[0, 1] if m.sum() > 200 else 0.0)
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comp_ic[t] = np.nan_to_num(sigz[t] @ np.nan_to_num(np.array(w)))
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comp_eq = np.nansum(sigz, axis=2)
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rt_cost = np.clip(40.0 / np.sqrt(np.maximum(dv30, 1.0) / 1e6), 3.0, 60.0) / 1e4
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def book(comp):
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s = comp.copy(); s[~univ] = np.nan
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w = xs_weights(s)
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a = 2.0 / 6
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for t in range(1, T):
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w[t] = a * w[t] + (1 - a) * w[t - 1]
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wh = w.copy(); last = 0
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for t in range(T):
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if t % 5 == 0:
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last = t
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wh[t] = w[last]
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g = np.sum(wh[:-1] * R[1:], axis=1) - np.sum(np.abs(wh[1:] - wh[:-1]) * rt_cost[1:], axis=1)
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return g
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T_ = lambda x: torch.tensor(np.asarray(x)[np.isfinite(np.asarray(x))], device=DEV, dtype=torch.float64)
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NT = K + 5
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print(f"\n===== MULTI-SIGNAL COMBINATION (liquid equities, net cost, deflate N={NT}) =====")
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# best single
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singles = {nm: validate(book(sigz[:, :, k]), days, NT) for k, nm in enumerate(names)}
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bs = max(singles.items(), key=lambda kv: kv[1]["oos"])
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print(f"BEST SINGLE signal: {bs[0]} OOS {bs[1]['oos']:+.2f} full {bs[1]['full']:+.2f} DSR {bs[1]['dsr']:.2f}")
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print(f"{'combiner':>14} {'full':>6} {'IS':>6} {'OOS':>6} {'CPCVmed':>8} {'DSR':>5}")
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for nm, comp in [("equal", comp_eq), ("IC-weighted", comp_ic), ("ridge(IS)", comp_ridge), ("gradboost(IS)", comp_gb)]:
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v = validate(book(comp), days, NT)
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print(f"{nm:>14} {v['full']:>+6.2f} {v['is_']:>+6.2f} {v['oos']:>+6.2f} {v['med']:>+8.2f} {v['dsr']:>5.2f}")
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print("\nVERDICT: combination OOS > best-single OOS => combining works. gradboost OOS > ridge OOS => ML adds;")
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print("gradboost < ridge => ML overfits 3.2y (linear is the real-quant answer). DSR>0.5 = deploy-grade.")
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if __name__ == "__main__":
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main()
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