diff --git a/zipline/pipeline/loaders/blaze.py b/zipline/pipeline/loaders/blaze.py
index 2c800934..d727e972 100644
--- a/zipline/pipeline/loaders/blaze.py
+++ b/zipline/pipeline/loaders/blaze.py
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@ from __future__ import division
 
 from abc import ABCMeta, abstractproperty
 from collections import namedtuple
-from datetime import datetime
 from operator import attrgetter
+from weakref import WeakKeyDictionary
 
 import blaze as bz
 from datashape import (
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@ from logbook import Logger
 from numpy.lib.stride_tricks import as_strided
 from odo import odo
 import pandas as pd
-from pytz import utc
 from toolz import flip, memoize, compose, complement, identity
 from six import with_metaclass
 
@@ -195,7 +194,7 @@ def _check_datetime_field(name, measure):
     """
     if not isinstance(measure[name], (Date, DateTime)):
         raise TypeError(
-            "'{n}' field must be a '{dt}', not: '{dshape}'".format(
+            "'{name}' field must be a '{dt}', not: '{dshape}'".format(
                 name=name,
                 dt=DateTime(),
                 dshape=measure[name],
@@ -295,7 +294,7 @@ def pipeline_api_from_blaze(expr,
             if isrecord(expr.dshape.measure):
                 break
         else:
-            expr = bz.Data({single_column: col})
+            expr = bz.Data(col, name=single_column)
 
     deltas = _get_deltas(expr, deltas, no_deltas_rule)
     if deltas is not None:
@@ -460,30 +459,12 @@ def adjustments_from_deltas(dates,
     }
 
 
-def to_datetime(dt64, factory=datetime.fromtimestamp, _ns_to_s=1000 ** 3):
-    """Convert a numpy datetime64 to a datetime object.
-
-    Parameters
-    ----------
-    dt64 : datetime64
-        The datetime64 to coerce.
-    factory : callable, optional
-        The function to coerce the timestamp as seconds into an object.
-
-    Returns
-    -------
-    dt : datetime
-        The dt64 coerced to a datetime.
-    """
-    return factory(int(dt64) / _ns_to_s, tz=utc)
-
-
 class BlazeLoader(dict):
     def __init__(self, colmap=None):
         self.update(colmap or {})
 
     @classmethod
-    @memoize
+    @memoize(cache=WeakKeyDictionary())
     def global_instance(cls):
         return cls()
 
@@ -518,11 +499,11 @@ class BlazeLoader(dict):
             # Hack to get the lower bound to query:
             # This must be strictly executed because the data for `ts` will
             # be removed from scope too early otherwise.
-            lower = odo(ts[ts <= to_datetime(dates[0])].max(), pd.Timestamp)
+            lower = odo(ts[ts <= dates[0]].max(), pd.Timestamp)
             return e[
                 e[SID_FIELD_NAME].isin(assets) &
-                (ts >= lower) &
-                (ts < to_datetime(dates[-1]))
+                ((ts >= lower) if lower is not pd.NaT else True) &
+                (ts <= dates[-1])
             ][query_fields]
 
         materialized_expr = odo(
@@ -539,21 +520,41 @@ class BlazeLoader(dict):
         # Inline the deltas that changed our most recently known value.
         # Also, we reindex by the dates to create a dense representation of
         # the data.
-        base = inline_novel_deltas(
+        dense_output = inline_novel_deltas(
             materialized_expr,
             materialized_deltas,
             dates,
-        ).drop(AD_FIELD_NAME, axis=1).set_index(TS_FIELD_NAME).reindex(
-            dates,
-            method='ffill',
-        )
+        ).drop(AD_FIELD_NAME, axis=1).set_index(TS_FIELD_NAME)
+
         if have_sids:
-            base.index.name = TS_FIELD_NAME
             # Unstack by the sid so that we get a multi-index on the columns
             # of datacolumn, sid.
-            base = base.set_index(SID_FIELD_NAME, append=True).unstack()
+            dense_output = dense_output.set_index(
+                SID_FIELD_NAME,
+                append=True,
+            ).unstack()
+
+            # Allocate the whole output dataframe at once instead of
+            # reindexing.
+            sparse_output = pd.DataFrame(
+                columns=pd.MultiIndex.from_product(
+                    (dense_output.columns.levels[0], assets),
+                    names=(
+                        dense_output.columns.levels[0].name,
+                        SID_FIELD_NAME,
+                    ),
+                ),
+                index=dates,
+            )
+
+            # In place update the output based on the base.
+            sparse_output.update(dense_output)
+
             column_view = identity
         else:
+            # We use the column view to make an array per asset.
+            sparse_output = dense_output.reindex(dates)
+
             def column_view(arr, _shape=(len(dates), len(assets))):
                 """Return a virtual matrix where we make a view that
                 duplicates a single column for all the assets.
@@ -572,9 +573,15 @@ class BlazeLoader(dict):
                     strides=(arr.itemsize, 0),
                 )
 
+        # Walk forward the data after any symbol mapped or non-symbol mapped
+        # specific transforms have been applied.
+        sparse_output = sparse_output.ffill()
+
         for column_idx, column in enumerate(columns):
             yield adjusted_array(
-                column_view(base[column.name].values.astype(column.dtype)),
+                column_view(
+                    sparse_output[column.name].values.astype(column.dtype),
+                ),
                 mask,
                 adjustments_from_deltas(
                     dates,
@@ -585,4 +592,10 @@ class BlazeLoader(dict):
                 )
             )
 
+    def __repr__(self):
+        return '%s(%s)' % (
+            type(self).__name__,
+            super(BlazeLoader, self).__repr__(),
+        )
+
 global_loader = BlazeLoader.global_instance()