diff --git a/collectors/daily_closes.py b/collectors/daily_closes.py
index 88b5327..40290fa 100644
--- a/collectors/daily_closes.py
+++ b/collectors/daily_closes.py
@@ -5,8 +5,10 @@
 The predictor inference Lambda uses these to bridge the gap between the
 weekly slim cache and today's prices, avoiding a full 2-year yfinance fetch.
 
-Data source priority: polygon.io grouped-daily (1 API call for all US stocks),
-then yfinance batch download for any tickers polygon missed.
+Data source priority:
+  1. polygon.io grouped-daily (1 API call, covers all US stocks + ETFs)
+  2. FRED (covers the 4 index tickers not on polygon free tier: VIX, VIX3M, TNX, IRX)
+  3. yfinance batch download (fallback for whatever remains)
 
 Schema: index=ticker (str), columns=[date, Open, High, Low, Close, Adj_Close, Volume, VWAP]
 """
@@ -15,17 +17,33 @@
 
 import io
 import logging
+import os
 import time
 from datetime import datetime, timezone
 
 import boto3
 import pandas as pd
+import requests
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 _YFINANCE_BATCH_SIZE = 100
 _YFINANCE_BATCH_DELAY = 2  # seconds between batches
 
+_FRED_BASE = "https://api.stlouisfed.org/fred/series/observations"
+_FRED_TIMEOUT = 15
+
+# Map our ArcticDB ticker key (after stripping ^) to FRED series id.
+# Both yfinance (^VIX, ^TNX, ...) and FRED (VIXCLS, DGS10, ...) publish
+# these in the same scale (raw index level for VIX/VIX3M, percent for
+# TNX/IRX), so no conversion is needed before appending to ArcticDB.
+_FRED_INDEX_MAP = {
+    "VIX": "VIXCLS",
+    "VIX3M": "VXVCLS",
+    "TNX": "DGS10",
+    "IRX": "DTB3",
+}
+
 
 def collect(
     bucket: str,
@@ -97,7 +115,20 @@ def collect(
     except Exception as e:
         logger.warning("Polygon grouped-daily failed: %s — falling back to yfinance", e)
 
-    # ── Step 2: yfinance fallback for missing tickers ────────────────────────
+    # ── Step 2: FRED fallback for index tickers ──────────────────────────────
+    # VIX/VIX3M/TNX/IRX are not on polygon free tier. FRED has same-scale
+    # equivalents (VIXCLS/VXVCLS/DGS10/DTB3) that typically publish T-1 values
+    # by the time the daily pipeline runs at 6:05 AM PT.
+    captured_tickers = {r["ticker"] for r in records}
+    fred_missing = [
+        t for t in tickers
+        if t.lstrip("^") not in captured_tickers and t.lstrip("^") in _FRED_INDEX_MAP
+    ]
+    fred_count = 0
+    if fred_missing:
+        fred_count = _fetch_fred_closes(fred_missing, run_date, records)
+
+    # ── Step 3: yfinance fallback for anything still missing ─────────────────
     captured_tickers = {r["ticker"] for r in records}
     missing = [t for t in tickers if t.lstrip("^") not in captured_tickers]
     yfinance_count = 0
@@ -110,14 +141,17 @@ def collect(
         return {"status": "error", "error": "no data fetched", "tickers_captured": 0}
 
     closes_df = pd.DataFrame(records).set_index("ticker")
-    logger.info("Daily closes: %d tickers for %s (polygon=%d, yfinance=%d)",
-                len(closes_df), run_date, polygon_count, yfinance_count)
+    logger.info(
+        "Daily closes: %d tickers for %s (polygon=%d, fred=%d, yfinance=%d)",
+        len(closes_df), run_date, polygon_count, fred_count, yfinance_count,
+    )
 
     if dry_run:
         return {
             "status": "ok_dry_run",
             "tickers_captured": len(closes_df),
             "polygon": polygon_count,
+            "fred": fred_count,
             "yfinance": yfinance_count,
         }
 
@@ -137,6 +171,7 @@ def collect(
             "status": "ok",
             "tickers_captured": len(closes_df),
             "polygon": polygon_count,
+            "fred": fred_count,
             "yfinance": yfinance_count,
         }
     except Exception as e:
@@ -144,6 +179,63 @@ def collect(
         return {"status": "error", "error": str(e), "tickers_captured": len(closes_df)}
 
 
+def _fetch_fred_closes(
+    tickers: list[str],
+    date_str: str,
+    records: list[dict],
+) -> int:
+    """Fetch the latest close for index tickers from FRED.
+
+    Serves the 4 index symbols not on polygon free tier (VIX, VIX3M, TNX, IRX).
+    Takes the most recent non-missing observation for each series — typically
+    T-1 when the daily pipeline runs at 6:05 AM PT.
+    """
+    api_key = os.environ.get("FRED_API_KEY", "")
+    if not api_key:
+        logger.warning("FRED_API_KEY not set — skipping FRED fallback for %d tickers", len(tickers))
+        return 0
+
+    count = 0
+    for ticker in tickers:
+        store_ticker = ticker.lstrip("^")
+        series_id = _FRED_INDEX_MAP.get(store_ticker)
+        if not series_id:
+            continue
+        try:
+            params = {
+                "series_id": series_id,
+                "api_key": api_key,
+                "file_type": "json",
+                "sort_order": "desc",
+                "limit": 5,
+            }
+            resp = requests.get(_FRED_BASE, params=params, timeout=_FRED_TIMEOUT)
+            resp.raise_for_status()
+            obs = resp.json().get("observations", [])
+            latest = next((o for o in obs if o.get("value", ".") != "."), None)
+            if latest is None:
+                logger.warning("FRED %s → %s: no non-missing observation", store_ticker, series_id)
+                continue
+            close = float(latest["value"])
+            records.append({
+                "ticker": store_ticker,
+                "date": date_str,
+                "Open": round(close, 4),
+                "High": round(close, 4),
+                "Low": round(close, 4),
+                "Close": round(close, 4),
+                "Adj_Close": round(close, 4),
+                "Volume": 0,
+                "VWAP": round(close, 4),
+            })
+            count += 1
+        except Exception as e:
+            logger.warning("FRED fetch failed for %s (%s): %s", store_ticker, series_id, e)
+
+    logger.info("FRED fallback: %d/%d index tickers captured", count, len(tickers))
+    return count
+
+
 def _fetch_yfinance_closes(
     tickers: list[str],
     date_str: str,
diff --git a/weekly_collector.py b/weekly_collector.py
index 4615569..c48d89b 100644
--- a/weekly_collector.py
+++ b/weekly_collector.py
@@ -374,6 +374,21 @@ def _run_daily(config: dict, args: argparse.Namespace) -> dict:
         results["status"] = "failed"
         return results
 
+    # Macro symbols are not S&P constituents but are core daily predictor inputs
+    # (vix_level, vix_term_slope, yield_10y, yield_curve_slope, sector-relative
+    # features). Appending them here lets builders/daily_append.py update the
+    # ArcticDB macro library every weekday — pre-ArcticDB, the predictor Lambda
+    # fetched these from yfinance on each run; post-migration, the write path
+    # moved here. ETFs come from polygon; indices (^-prefix) fall through to
+    # FRED then yfinance in daily_closes.collect.
+    MACRO_DAILY_TICKERS = [
+        "SPY", "GLD", "USO",
+        "XLB", "XLC", "XLE", "XLF", "XLI", "XLK",
+        "XLP", "XLRE", "XLU", "XLV", "XLY",
+        "^VIX", "^VIX3M", "^TNX", "^IRX",
+    ]
+    tickers = list(dict.fromkeys(tickers + MACRO_DAILY_TICKERS))
+
     logger.info("=" * 60)
     logger.info("COLLECTING: daily closes")
     logger.info("=" * 60)