diff --git a/src/main.zig b/src/main.zig
index 88749dc..600a143 100644
--- a/src/main.zig
+++ b/src/main.zig
@@ -1149,6 +1149,19 @@ fn refresh(io: std.Io, allocator: std.mem.Allocator, environ: *const std.process
 
     var counts: SymbolCounts = .{};
     var stats: RefreshStats = .{};
+    // Symbols whose candles came back WITHOUT a provider call this run: either
+    // the TTL was still fresh, or a server sync satisfied the request -
+    // `service.zig` returns `.cached` for both (see the sync at its line 934).
+    // These are the only symbols a forced refresh in the post-pass sweep can
+    // help; for every other finding the provider was asked seconds ago and did
+    // not have the bar, so asking again in the same run is pure quota burn and
+    // bypasses the very TTL pacing `expiryAfterFetch` exists to get right.
+    //
+    // Keys borrow from `portfolio`, whose `deinit` is function-scoped and so
+    // outlives the sweep below. Block-scoping that deinit is what dangled the
+    // equivalent keys in `handleDiagnostics`.
+    var unfetched = std.StringHashMap(void).init(allocator);
+    defer unfetched.deinit();
     var failed_list = std.ArrayList([]const u8).empty;
     var lagging_list = std.ArrayList([]const u8).empty;
     var overdue_list = std.ArrayList([]const u8).empty;
@@ -1197,6 +1210,11 @@ fn refresh(io: std.Io, allocator: std.mem.Allocator, environ: *const std.process
             defer result.deinit();
             try stdout.print("candles ok ({s})", .{@tagName(result.source)});
             stats.candles.hit(result.source == .fetched);
+            // `== .cached` rather than `!= .fetched` on purpose: should a third
+            // `Source` ever appear, this defaults to NOT forcing. That failure
+            // mode leaves a symbol behind, which surfaces via `stuck` and mails
+            // the operator; the opposite default burns quota in silence.
+            if (result.source == .cached) try unfetched.put(sym, {});
 
             // Provider-data-lag check: did we end up with the latest bar
             // the market should have posted by now? A `.lagging` bar is
@@ -1215,7 +1233,15 @@ fn refresh(io: std.Io, allocator: std.mem.Allocator, environ: *const std.process
                     },
                     .overdue => {
                         sym_freshness = .overdue;
-                        log.info("{s}: latest bar {s} overdue past grace window; assuming market closure (no retry)", .{ sym, ds });
+                        // States the observation, NOT an inference. This used to
+                        // say "assuming market closure (no retry)", which the
+                        // pass cannot know: `candleFreshness` judges this symbol
+                        // against the trading calendar in isolation, and a
+                        // closure moves EVERY symbol together. A single symbol
+                        // nothing refreshes produces the identical reading. The
+                        // corpus question is answered after the pass, by
+                        // `sweepAfterPass`, which can see the peers.
+                        log.info("{s}: latest bar {s} overdue past grace window; no retry this pass", .{ sym, ds });
                     },
                     .current => {},
                 }
@@ -1378,14 +1404,27 @@ fn refresh(io: std.Io, allocator: std.mem.Allocator, environ: *const std.process
         }
     }
 
+    // Sweep AFTER every symbol has been through, because the question it answers
+    // - is anything behind its peers? - has no answer until the corpus is whole.
+    const sweep = sweepAfterPass(io, allocator, &svc, config.cache_dir, &symbols, &unfetched, now_s, stdout) catch |err| blk: {
+        log.warn("post-pass sweep failed: {t}", .{err});
+        break :blk SweepOutcome{};
+    };
+    try stdout.flush();
+
     const elapsed_ns = std.Io.Timestamp.now(io, .awake).nanoseconds - start_ns;
     const elapsed_s: u64 = @intCast(@divTrunc(elapsed_ns, std.time.ns_per_s));
-    const code = refreshExit(counts.failed, counts.lagging);
-    const reason = switch (code) {
-        0 => "clean",
-        75 => "lagging",
-        else => "failures",
-    };
+    const stuck = if (sweepIsActionable(sweep)) sweep.stuck else 0;
+    const code = refreshExit(counts.failed, counts.lagging, stuck);
+    // Distinguishes the two paths to `1`, since the code alone cannot.
+    const reason = if (counts.failed > 0)
+        "failures"
+    else if (stuck > 0)
+        "stuck behind peers"
+    else if (code == 75)
+        "lagging"
+    else
+        "clean";
 
     try stdout.print("\nRefresh complete in {d}s   (exit {d}: {s})\n", .{ elapsed_s, code, reason });
     try stdout.print("  symbols: {d} current, {d} lagging, {d} overdue, {d} failed   ({d} total)\n", .{ counts.current, counts.lagging, counts.overdue, counts.failed, symbols.count() });
@@ -1408,16 +1447,316 @@ fn refresh(io: std.Io, allocator: std.mem.Allocator, environ: *const std.process
     return code;
 }
 
+/// What the post-pass sweep found and what it managed to fix.
+const SweepOutcome = struct {
+    /// Tracked symbols still further behind their peers than ordinary lag
+    /// explains, AFTER a forced refresh. These will not clear on the next cron
+    /// tick, which is why they get their own exit disposition.
+    stuck: usize = 0,
+    /// Findings the sweep saw before it acted on anything.
+    ///
+    /// Distinct from `attempted` because "nothing was behind" and "things were
+    /// behind but none were worth re-asking" are different states, and only the
+    /// first may print a market-closure conclusion. Conflating them would
+    /// reintroduce the false inference the pass-time log used to make.
+    found: usize = 0,
+    /// Symbols the sweep force-refreshed.
+    attempted: usize = 0,
+    /// Findings deliberately left alone: the pass already asked the provider for
+    /// these this run, so a forced re-ask cannot produce a different answer.
+    skipped: usize = 0,
+    /// Of those, how many the forced fetch actually brought level with peers.
+    recovered: usize = 0,
+    /// Symbols still behind their peers after the retry, INCLUDING those within
+    /// what ordinary lag explains. Tracked separately from `stuck` because
+    /// keying the all-clear message on `stuck` alone announced "all clear" while
+    /// a symbol was still behind - it had merely crossed back inside
+    /// `max_normal_lag_days`, which is progress, not resolution.
+    still_behind: usize = 0,
+    /// Was the sweep able to reach a conclusion at all? False when the cache
+    /// could not be enumerated, in which case nothing here is a finding.
+    ran: bool = false,
+    /// True when no individual symbol is behind its peers but the corpus as a
+    /// whole sits behind the calendar. That is the shape a market closure makes,
+    /// and the only shape from which one can honestly be inferred.
+    corpus_behind: bool = false,
+    /// The peer reference the conclusion was drawn against, for the operator to
+    /// check the reasoning rather than take it on faith.
+    peer_date: ?zfin.Date = null,
+};
+
+/// Should this run exit non-zero for a gap that will not self-heal?
+///
+/// Split from `refreshExit` so the "is a multi-day gap actionable" question is
+/// testable without constructing a whole run: `stuck` counts only symbols still
+/// past `max_normal_lag_days` after a FORCED refresh, so it excludes both
+/// ordinary provider lag (which `75` already covers) and anything a retry fixes.
+fn sweepIsActionable(o: SweepOutcome) bool {
+    return o.ran and o.stuck > 0;
+}
+
+/// Which findings a forced refresh can plausibly help, worst first.
+///
+/// Only symbols the pass did NOT already ask the provider about. A symbol whose
+/// candles were fetched seconds ago will get the identical answer from an
+/// immediate re-ask, so forcing it wastes a request AND bypasses the TTL pacing
+/// that exists to space retries out. The case that DOES benefit is a symbol the
+/// pass never reached the provider for - a fresh TTL, or a server sync that
+/// satisfied the request while serving a copy weeks old. That is precisely the
+/// shape of the bug this whole sweep was built for.
+///
+/// `far_behind` before `stale` so a rate limit, if one bites mid-sweep, bites the
+/// least-behind symbols. Both input lists arrive already sorted worst-first.
+///
+/// Pure given the report and the set, which is the point: the "don't waste calls"
+/// rule is testable without a provider.
+fn selectForForcing(
+    arena: std.mem.Allocator,
+    before: zfin.freshness.Report,
+    unfetched: *const std.StringHashMap(void),
+) ![]const []const u8 {
+    var out = std.ArrayList([]const u8).empty;
+    for (before.far_behind) |f| {
+        if (unfetched.contains(f.symbol)) try out.append(arena, f.symbol);
+    }
+    for (before.stale) |f| {
+        if (unfetched.contains(f.symbol)) try out.append(arena, f.symbol);
+    }
+    return out.items;
+}
+
+/// Is `symbol` still behind its peers in `report`?
+fn isFinding(report: zfin.freshness.Report, symbol: []const u8) bool {
+    for (report.far_behind) |f| {
+        if (std.mem.eql(u8, f.symbol, symbol)) return true;
+    }
+    for (report.stale) |f| {
+        if (std.mem.eql(u8, f.symbol, symbol)) return true;
+    }
+    return false;
+}
+
+/// Sweep the whole cache after the main pass, force-refresh whatever is behind
+/// its peers, then re-check.
+///
+/// Why this cannot be folded into the pass: the pass judges each symbol against
+/// the trading calendar in isolation (`market.candleFreshness`), which cannot
+/// tell a market closure from a single symbol nothing refreshes - both leave a
+/// bar sitting past the grace window. A closure moves every symbol together, so
+/// "behind its own peers" is disproof of one. That is a corpus question, and the
+/// corpus is only complete once every symbol has been through the pass.
+///
+/// The forced refresh is the point, not a nicety: a symbol can be behind purely
+/// because nothing ever asked for it, and one forced fetch brings it fully
+/// current (observed on a watchlist symbol 42 days behind). Reporting the gap
+/// without attempting the fix would file a ticket for something the run could
+/// have closed itself.
+fn sweepAfterPass(
+    io: std.Io,
+    allocator: std.mem.Allocator,
+    svc: *zfin.DataService,
+    cache_dir: []const u8,
+    tracked: *const std.StringHashMap(void),
+    unfetched: *const std.StringHashMap(void),
+    now_s: i64,
+    stdout: *std.Io.Writer,
+) !SweepOutcome {
+    // One arena for the whole sweep: it runs once, at the end of a process that
+    // is about to exit, and the alternative is five separate ownership dances
+    // across two scans.
+    var arena_state = std.heap.ArenaAllocator.init(allocator);
+    defer arena_state.deinit();
+    const arena = arena_state.allocator();
+
+    var store = zfin.cache.Store.init(io, arena, cache_dir);
+    const keys = store.cacheKeys(arena) catch |err| {
+        // Not a finding: an unreadable cache directory means the sweep has no
+        // opinion, and reporting `stuck = 0` as though it had checked would be
+        // the same lie the old log line told.
+        log.warn("post-pass sweep skipped: cannot enumerate cache: {t}", .{err});
+        return .{};
+    };
+
+    const before = try zfin.freshness.scan(
+        arena,
+        try zfin.freshness.collect(arena, &store, keys, tracked, &.{}),
+        now_s,
+    );
+
+    var out = SweepOutcome{ .ran = true };
+    out.peer_date = widestPeerDate(before);
+
+    out.found = before.stale.len + before.far_behind.len;
+    if (out.found == 0) {
+        // Nothing is behind its peers. The only remaining question is whether the
+        // corpus itself has moved, which is what distinguishes "quiet market" from
+        // "nothing ran" - and it is the ONLY state from which a market closure can
+        // honestly be inferred.
+        out.corpus_behind = corpusBehind(before);
+        try printSweepConclusion(stdout, out, &.{});
+        return out;
+    }
+
+    const forced = try selectForForcing(arena, before, unfetched);
+    out.attempted = forced.len;
+    out.skipped = out.found - forced.len;
+    for (forced) |sym| forceOne(svc, sym);
+
+    // Nothing was forced, so the cache is byte-identical to the pre-sweep scan -
+    // re-reading it would cost ~40 file reads to learn what we already know, and
+    // could only differ by disagreeing with itself.
+    const after = if (forced.len == 0) before else blk: {
+        // Re-read from disk rather than trusting the fetch's return value: the
+        // question is what a CLIENT will now be served, and that is whatever
+        // landed in the cache.
+        var after_store = zfin.cache.Store.init(io, arena, cache_dir);
+        const after_keys = after_store.cacheKeys(arena) catch keys;
+        break :blk try zfin.freshness.scan(
+            arena,
+            try zfin.freshness.collect(arena, &after_store, after_keys, tracked, &.{}),
+            now_s,
+        );
+    };
+
+    out.still_behind = after.stale.len + after.far_behind.len;
+    out.stuck = after.far_behind.len;
+    // Counted by membership, not by subtracting totals. The arithmetic form
+    // (`attempted - still_behind`) already produced a wrong number once, and
+    // skipped symbols make it wrong in a second way: they inflate
+    // `still_behind` without ever having been attempted.
+    for (forced) |sym| {
+        if (!isFinding(after, sym)) out.recovered += 1;
+    }
+    out.peer_date = widestPeerDate(after) orelse out.peer_date;
+    // A symbol behind its peers is disproof of a closure, so this stays false
+    // whenever there are findings - regardless of how the corpus looks.
+    out.corpus_behind = false;
+
+    try printSweepConclusion(stdout, out, after.far_behind);
+    return out;
+}
+
+/// Force one symbol's candles, swallowing failures by design: the sweep's job is
+/// to report the post-attempt state, and a fetch error here is already visible in
+/// the re-scan as "still behind". Logged by name so the cause is not lost.
+fn forceOne(svc: *zfin.DataService, symbol: []const u8) void {
+    if (svc.getCandles(symbol, .{ .force_refresh = true })) |result| {
+        result.deinit();
+    } else |err| {
+        log.warn("post-pass sweep: forced refresh of {s} failed: {t}", .{ symbol, err });
+    }
+}
+
+/// The newest bar any conclusive peer group holds. The reference the sweep's
+/// conclusions are measured against.
+fn widestPeerDate(report: zfin.freshness.Report) ?zfin.Date {
+    var newest: ?zfin.Date = null;
+    for (report.groups) |g| {
+        if (!g.conclusive()) continue;
+        const p = g.peer_date orelse continue;
+        if (newest == null or newest.?.lessThan(p)) newest = p;
+    }
+    return newest;
+}
+
+/// Is every conclusive group's own newest bar behind the calendar?
+///
+/// Only meaningful when nothing is behind its peers - which the caller enforces.
+/// `GroupState.freshness` is the same verdict the fetch gate uses, so this does
+/// not re-derive the market calendar.
+fn corpusBehind(report: zfin.freshness.Report) bool {
+    var conclusive: usize = 0;
+    for (report.groups) |g| {
+        if (!g.conclusive()) continue;
+        conclusive += 1;
+        const f = g.freshness orelse return false;
+        if (f == .current) return false;
+    }
+    return conclusive > 0;
+}
+
+fn printSweepConclusion(
+    stdout: *std.Io.Writer,
+    o: SweepOutcome,
+    stuck: []const zfin.freshness.Finding,
+) !void {
+    if (!o.ran) return;
+    try stdout.print("\nPost-pass sweep:\n", .{});
+    // Keyed on `found`, NOT `attempted`. Those diverged the moment the sweep
+    // learned to skip symbols the pass had already asked about, and keying the
+    // closure conclusion on `attempted` would have claimed a market closure while
+    // symbols were demonstrably behind their peers - the exact false inference
+    // that was removed from the pass-time log.
+    if (o.found == 0) {
+        if (o.corpus_behind) {
+            // The one case where a closure CAN be inferred, and it is inferred
+            // from the corpus moving together rather than from one symbol.
+            try stdout.print("  no symbol is behind its peers, but the whole cache sits behind the\n", .{});
+            try stdout.print("  calendar - consistent with a market closure, not a refresh problem\n", .{});
+        } else {
+            try stdout.print("  nothing behind its peers\n", .{});
+        }
+        return;
+    }
+
+    if (o.attempted == 0) {
+        // The 5pm case: equities posted, a couple of symbols have not, and the
+        // pass already asked the provider about them this run. Re-asking cannot
+        // change the answer, so the sweep does nothing and says why.
+        try stdout.print("  {d} behind peers; none re-asked - the provider was already queried this pass\n", .{o.found});
+    } else if (o.skipped > 0) {
+        try stdout.print("  {d} behind peers; {d} re-asked, {d} skipped (already queried this pass); {d} now level\n", .{ o.found, o.attempted, o.skipped, o.recovered });
+    } else {
+        try stdout.print("  {d} symbol(s) behind peers -> forced refresh; {d} now level with peers\n", .{ o.attempted, o.recovered });
+    }
+
+    // Ordered by severity, NOT by field convenience. An earlier arrangement
+    // tested `still_behind == 0` first, which would print "all clear" for any
+    // outcome whose counters disagreed - the one direction this must never fail
+    // in, since the all-clear is what suppresses the non-zero exit.
+    if (o.stuck > 0) {
+        // Named explicitly as non-self-healing, because the whole reason this run
+        // exits non-zero is to stop cron from looping on it silently.
+        try stdout.print("  {d} still further behind than lag explains - a retry will not clear these:\n", .{o.stuck});
+        for (stuck) |f| {
+            try stdout.print("    {s:<10} {f}  {d}d behind {f}\n", .{ f.symbol, f.last_date, f.days_behind, f.peer_date });
+        }
+        // Deliberately not naming a cause. The candidates are many and none
+        // visible from here (see `zfin.freshness.max_normal_lag_days`);
+        // `zfin diagnose SYMBOL` is the tool that narrows it.
+        try stdout.print("  run `zfin diagnose SYMBOL` against one of these to narrow it\n", .{});
+        return;
+    }
+    if (o.still_behind > 0) {
+        // Partial progress, and saying so matters: these crossed back inside
+        // `max_normal_lag_days`, so the next pass should close them and this run
+        // must NOT exit as though a human were needed.
+        try stdout.print("  {d} still behind, but within what ordinary lag explains - the next pass should close it\n", .{o.still_behind});
+        return;
+    }
+    try stdout.print("  all clear after the retry\n", .{});
+}
+
 /// Map a refresh run's failure/lag counts to a process exit code:
 ///   0  - every symbol current and fetched cleanly
 ///   75 - EX_TEMPFAIL: no hard failures, but at least one symbol's
 ///        just-closed bar hadn't posted yet (provider lag); cron should
 ///        retry shortly
-///   1  - at least one hard failure (fetch error)
+///   1  - at least one hard failure (fetch error), OR a tracked symbol
+///        still further behind its peers than lag explains after the
+///        post-pass sweep forced a refresh
 /// Hard failure dominates lag - if anything failed outright that's the
 /// code the operator needs to act on.
-fn refreshExit(fail_count: usize, lag_count: usize) u8 {
+///
+/// The stuck-symbol case is deliberately `1` rather than `75`, and this is the
+/// distinction that matters: `75` tells cron "retry soon", which is right for an
+/// unposted bar and wrong for a multi-day gap. A gap the sweep could not close
+/// with a forced fetch will not close on the next tick either, so the run has to
+/// mail rather than loop. It shares `1` with a fetch failure because both mean
+/// "a human should look"; the summary line names which one it was.
+fn refreshExit(fail_count: usize, lag_count: usize, stuck_count: usize) u8 {
     if (fail_count > 0) return 1;
+    if (stuck_count > 0) return 1;
     if (lag_count > 0) return 75;
     return 0;
 }
@@ -1644,12 +1983,101 @@ test "isPlausibleSymbol" {
     try std.testing.expect(!isPlausibleSymbol("ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQ")); // 17 chars, too long
 }
 
-test "refreshExit: hard failure dominates, then lag, else clean" {
-    try std.testing.expectEqual(@as(u8, 0), refreshExit(0, 0));
-    try std.testing.expectEqual(@as(u8, 75), refreshExit(0, 3));
-    try std.testing.expectEqual(@as(u8, 1), refreshExit(2, 0));
+test "refreshExit: hard failure dominates, then stuck, then lag, else clean" {
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(@as(u8, 0), refreshExit(0, 0, 0));
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(@as(u8, 75), refreshExit(0, 3, 0));
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(@as(u8, 1), refreshExit(2, 0, 0));
     // A hard failure outranks lag.
-    try std.testing.expectEqual(@as(u8, 1), refreshExit(1, 5));
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(@as(u8, 1), refreshExit(1, 5, 0));
+
+    // A symbol still behind its peers after a FORCED refresh exits 1, not 75.
+    // This is the whole point of the third argument: 75 means EX_TEMPFAIL, which
+    // tells cron to retry soon - correct for an unposted bar, wrong for a
+    // multi-day gap that a forced fetch already failed to close. Retrying that on
+    // a schedule loops silently forever, which is how SPCX went 43 days unnoticed.
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(@as(u8, 1), refreshExit(0, 0, 1));
+    // Stuck outranks lag: the actionable finding wins over the retryable one.
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(@as(u8, 1), refreshExit(0, 9, 1));
+    // But a hard failure still outranks stuck - it is the more proximate problem
+    // and may well be the CAUSE of the gap.
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(@as(u8, 1), refreshExit(4, 0, 2));
+}
+
+test "sweepIsActionable: only a sweep that actually ran can be a finding" {
+    // A sweep that could not enumerate the cache reports `stuck = 0`, and reading
+    // that as "nothing is behind" would repeat the exact mistake the old
+    // market-closure log line made: asserting a conclusion from missing evidence.
+    // `ran` is what separates "checked and found nothing" from "did not check".
+    try std.testing.expect(!sweepIsActionable(.{ .ran = false, .stuck = 3 }));
+    try std.testing.expect(!sweepIsActionable(.{ .ran = true, .stuck = 0 }));
+    try std.testing.expect(sweepIsActionable(.{ .ran = true, .stuck = 1 }));
+    // The zero value must never be actionable - it is what the error paths return.
+    try std.testing.expect(!sweepIsActionable(.{}));
+}
+
+test "corpusBehind: a closure is only inferable when every group moved together" {
+    const d = zfin.Date.fromYmd(2026, 8, 12);
+    const empty: []zfin.freshness.Finding = &.{};
+
+    // Two conclusive groups, both overdue, nothing behind its peers. This is the
+    // one shape from which a market closure can honestly be read.
+    var groups = [_]zfin.freshness.GroupState{
+        .{ .kind = .equity, .peer_date = d, .freshness = .overdue, .dated = 9 },
+        .{ .kind = .mutual_fund, .peer_date = d, .freshness = .overdue, .dated = 4 },
+    };
+    var r = zfin.freshness.Report{
+        .stale = empty,
+        .far_behind = empty,
+        .orphans = &.{},
+        .missing = &.{},
+        .groups = &groups,
+    };
+    try std.testing.expect(corpusBehind(r));
+
+    // One group current: the market plainly was not closed.
+    groups[1].freshness = .current;
+    try std.testing.expect(!corpusBehind(r));
+
+    // Unknown freshness is not evidence of a closure. Absence of information must
+    // not become a conclusion.
+    groups[1].freshness = null;
+    try std.testing.expect(!corpusBehind(r));
+
+    // No conclusive group at all - a single cached symbol per kind - concludes
+    // nothing rather than vacuously true.
+    var lonely = [_]zfin.freshness.GroupState{
+        .{ .kind = .equity, .peer_date = d, .freshness = .overdue, .dated = 1 },
+    };
+    r.groups = &lonely;
+    try std.testing.expect(!corpusBehind(r));
+    r.groups = &.{};
+    try std.testing.expect(!corpusBehind(r));
+}
+
+test "widestPeerDate: the newest conclusive group wins, inconclusive ignored" {
+    const aug12 = zfin.Date.fromYmd(2026, 8, 12);
+    const aug11 = zfin.Date.fromYmd(2026, 8, 11);
+    const jun01 = zfin.Date.fromYmd(2026, 6, 1);
+    var groups = [_]zfin.freshness.GroupState{
+        .{ .kind = .equity, .peer_date = aug11, .freshness = null, .dated = 5 },
+        .{ .kind = .mutual_fund, .peer_date = aug12, .freshness = null, .dated = 3 },
+    };
+    var r = zfin.freshness.Report{
+        .stale = &.{},
+        .far_behind = &.{},
+        .orphans = &.{},
+        .missing = &.{},
+        .groups = &groups,
+    };
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(@as(?zfin.Date, aug12), widestPeerDate(r));
+
+    // An inconclusive group's date must not become the reference - with one cached
+    // symbol its "peer date" is just its own bar.
+    groups[1] = .{ .kind = .mutual_fund, .peer_date = jun01, .freshness = null, .dated = 1 };
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(@as(?zfin.Date, aug11), widestPeerDate(r));
+
+    r.groups = &.{};
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(@as(?zfin.Date, null), widestPeerDate(r));
 }
 
 test "printStatRow aligns with the summary-table header" {
@@ -1804,3 +2232,253 @@ test "collectRefreshSymbols: keys stay readable while the source lots live" {
     try std.testing.expect(set.contains("AMZN"));
     try std.testing.expectEqual(@as(u32, 1), set.count());
 }
+
+test "printSweepConclusion: a closure is claimed only when the corpus moved together" {
+    const a = std.testing.allocator;
+
+    // Nothing behind peers, corpus itself behind: the ONE case where a closure is
+    // a legitimate inference, and it must say so from the corpus, not one symbol.
+    {
+        var w: std.Io.Writer.Allocating = .init(a);
+        defer w.deinit();
+        try printSweepConclusion(&w.writer, .{ .ran = true, .corpus_behind = true }, &.{});
+        const s = w.written();
+        try std.testing.expect(std.mem.indexOf(u8, s, "market closure") != null);
+        try std.testing.expect(std.mem.indexOf(u8, s, "not a refresh problem") != null);
+    }
+
+    // Nothing behind peers and the corpus is current: no closure claim at all.
+    // The old pass-time log asserted closure from a single symbol's calendar
+    // position; nothing may reintroduce that from an empty finding list.
+    {
+        var w: std.Io.Writer.Allocating = .init(a);
+        defer w.deinit();
+        try printSweepConclusion(&w.writer, .{ .ran = true, .corpus_behind = false }, &.{});
+        const s = w.written();
+        try std.testing.expect(std.mem.indexOf(u8, s, "market closure") == null);
+        try std.testing.expect(std.mem.indexOf(u8, s, "nothing behind its peers") != null);
+    }
+
+    // A sweep that never ran prints nothing - it has no opinion to report.
+    {
+        var w: std.Io.Writer.Allocating = .init(a);
+        defer w.deinit();
+        try printSweepConclusion(&w.writer, .{}, &.{});
+        try std.testing.expectEqual(@as(usize, 0), w.written().len);
+    }
+}
+
+test "printSweepConclusion: a stuck symbol is named and marked non-self-healing" {
+    const a = std.testing.allocator;
+    const stuck = [_]zfin.freshness.Finding{.{
+        .symbol = "SPCX",
+        .kind = .equity,
+        .last_date = zfin.Date.fromYmd(2026, 6, 29),
+        .peer_date = zfin.Date.fromYmd(2026, 8, 12),
+        .days_behind = 44,
+    }};
+    var w: std.Io.Writer.Allocating = .init(a);
+    defer w.deinit();
+    try printSweepConclusion(&w.writer, .{
+        .ran = true,
+        .found = 3,
+        .attempted = 3,
+        .recovered = 2,
+        .still_behind = 1,
+        .stuck = 1,
+    }, &stuck);
+    const s = w.written();
+
+    // The symbol and both dates, so the operator can check the reasoning rather
+    // than trust the verdict.
+    try std.testing.expect(std.mem.indexOf(u8, s, "SPCX") != null);
+    try std.testing.expect(std.mem.indexOf(u8, s, "2026-06-29") != null);
+    try std.testing.expect(std.mem.indexOf(u8, s, "2026-08-12") != null);
+    try std.testing.expect(std.mem.indexOf(u8, s, "44d behind") != null);
+    // The recovery tally, so a partial success is not read as total failure.
+    try std.testing.expect(std.mem.indexOf(u8, s, "2 now level with peers") != null);
+    // Says a retry will NOT help - the justification for exiting 1 over 75.
+    try std.testing.expect(std.mem.indexOf(u8, s, "will not clear") != null);
+    // Points at the tool that narrows a cause instead of guessing one.
+    try std.testing.expect(std.mem.indexOf(u8, s, "zfin diagnose") != null);
+    // And must NOT guess. `freshness.max_normal_lag_days` documents that the
+    // candidates are many and none visible from here.
+    try std.testing.expect(std.mem.indexOf(u8, s, "market closure") == null);
+}
+
+test "printSweepConclusion: partial progress is not an all-clear, and not a page" {
+    // The bug this pins, found by running it: `all clear after the retry` printed
+    // whenever `stuck == 0`, ignoring symbols still behind by a day or two. A
+    // forced refresh that drags a symbol from 53 days behind to 1 day behind has
+    // made progress and resolved nothing, and the operator must be able to tell
+    // those apart from the output alone.
+    const a = std.testing.allocator;
+    var w: std.Io.Writer.Allocating = .init(a);
+    defer w.deinit();
+    try printSweepConclusion(&w.writer, .{
+        .ran = true,
+        .found = 1,
+        .attempted = 1,
+        .recovered = 0,
+        .still_behind = 1,
+        .stuck = 0,
+    }, &.{});
+    const s = w.written();
+    try std.testing.expect(std.mem.indexOf(u8, s, "all clear") == null);
+    try std.testing.expect(std.mem.indexOf(u8, s, "within what ordinary lag explains") != null);
+    // Must not claim non-recovery is permanent: that language belongs to `stuck`,
+    // which is what exits 1.
+    try std.testing.expect(std.mem.indexOf(u8, s, "will not clear") == null);
+
+    // Genuinely resolved: every attempted symbol is level again.
+    var w2: std.Io.Writer.Allocating = .init(a);
+    defer w2.deinit();
+    try printSweepConclusion(&w2.writer, .{
+        .ran = true,
+        .found = 2,
+        .attempted = 2,
+        .recovered = 2,
+        .still_behind = 0,
+        .stuck = 0,
+    }, &.{});
+    try std.testing.expect(std.mem.indexOf(u8, w2.written(), "all clear") != null);
+}
+
+test "printSweepConclusion: disagreeing counters never produce a false all-clear" {
+    // Defence in the one direction that matters. `stuck > 0` with a `still_behind`
+    // that failed to keep up is a bug in the caller, but the output must degrade
+    // to the LOUD reading, never the quiet one - the all-clear is what suppresses
+    // the non-zero exit, so a false all-clear is silent data rot.
+    const a = std.testing.allocator;
+    const stuck = [_]zfin.freshness.Finding{.{
+        .symbol = "SPCX",
+        .kind = .equity,
+        .last_date = zfin.Date.fromYmd(2026, 6, 29),
+        .peer_date = zfin.Date.fromYmd(2026, 8, 12),
+        .days_behind = 44,
+    }};
+    var w: std.Io.Writer.Allocating = .init(a);
+    defer w.deinit();
+    try printSweepConclusion(&w.writer, .{
+        .ran = true,
+        .found = 1,
+        .attempted = 1,
+        .recovered = 0,
+        .still_behind = 0, // deliberately inconsistent with `stuck`
+        .stuck = 1,
+    }, &stuck);
+    const s = w.written();
+    try std.testing.expect(std.mem.indexOf(u8, s, "all clear") == null);
+    try std.testing.expect(std.mem.indexOf(u8, s, "will not clear") != null);
+    try std.testing.expect(std.mem.indexOf(u8, s, "SPCX") != null);
+}
+
+/// Build a Report from findings, for the pure decision tests.
+fn testReport(
+    stale: []zfin.freshness.Finding,
+    far: []zfin.freshness.Finding,
+) zfin.freshness.Report {
+    return .{ .stale = stale, .far_behind = far, .orphans = &.{}, .missing = &.{}, .groups = &.{} };
+}
+
+fn testFinding(symbol: []const u8, days: i64) zfin.freshness.Finding {
+    return .{
+        .symbol = symbol,
+        .kind = .equity,
+        .last_date = zfin.Date.fromYmd(2026, 8, 12).addDays(@intCast(-days)),
+        .peer_date = zfin.Date.fromYmd(2026, 8, 12),
+        .days_behind = days,
+    };
+}
+
+test "selectForForcing: a symbol the pass already fetched is not re-asked" {
+    // THE 5pm CASE. 13 equities post, 2 do not. Those 2 had their TTL lapse, so
+    // the pass made a real provider call and got nothing newer. Re-asking seconds
+    // later cannot change the answer: it burns quota (50 req/hr on the free Tiingo
+    // plan) and bypasses the TTL pacing `expiryAfterFetch` exists to enforce.
+    var arena = std.heap.ArenaAllocator.init(std.testing.allocator);
+    defer arena.deinit();
+    const a = arena.allocator();
+
+    var stale = [_]zfin.freshness.Finding{ testFinding("MSFT", 1), testFinding("NKE", 1) };
+    const report = testReport(&stale, &.{});
+
+    // Empty set: the pass fetched everything, so nothing is worth re-asking.
+    var none = std.StringHashMap(void).init(a);
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(@as(usize, 0), (try selectForForcing(a, report, &none)).len);
+}
+
+test "selectForForcing: a symbol the pass never fetched IS re-asked" {
+    // The SPCX case, and the reason the sweep exists. A server sync stamped a
+    // future `#!expires=`, so the pass returned `.cached` without ever reaching a
+    // provider - while serving a copy six weeks old. Forcing is the only thing
+    // that moves it.
+    var arena = std.heap.ArenaAllocator.init(std.testing.allocator);
+    defer arena.deinit();
+    const a = arena.allocator();
+
+    var far = [_]zfin.freshness.Finding{testFinding("SPCX", 44)};
+    var stale = [_]zfin.freshness.Finding{testFinding("NKE", 1)};
+    const report = testReport(&stale, &far);
+
+    var cached = std.StringHashMap(void).init(a);
+    try cached.put("SPCX", {});
+    try cached.put("NKE", {});
+    const sel = try selectForForcing(a, report, &cached);
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(@as(usize, 2), sel.len);
+    // far_behind first, so a mid-sweep rate limit bites the least-behind symbol.
+    try std.testing.expectEqualStrings("SPCX", sel[0]);
+    try std.testing.expectEqualStrings("NKE", sel[1]);
+}
+
+test "selectForForcing: mixed - only the unfetched half is re-asked" {
+    var arena = std.heap.ArenaAllocator.init(std.testing.allocator);
+    defer arena.deinit();
+    const a = arena.allocator();
+
+    var far = [_]zfin.freshness.Finding{ testFinding("SPCX", 44), testFinding("ORC42", 30) };
+    var stale = [_]zfin.freshness.Finding{ testFinding("MSFT", 1), testFinding("NKE", 2) };
+    const report = testReport(&stale, &far);
+
+    var cached = std.StringHashMap(void).init(a);
+    try cached.put("SPCX", {}); // TTL-held, worth forcing
+    try cached.put("NKE", {}); // TTL-held, worth forcing
+    const sel = try selectForForcing(a, report, &cached);
+    try std.testing.expectEqual(@as(usize, 2), sel.len);
+    try std.testing.expectEqualStrings("SPCX", sel[0]);
+    try std.testing.expectEqualStrings("NKE", sel[1]);
+}
+
+test "isFinding: consulted across BOTH lists" {
+    // An earlier shape of the recovered-count checked only one list, which
+    // credited recovery to symbols that had merely crossed from far_behind into
+    // stale - still behind, reported as fixed.
+    var far = [_]zfin.freshness.Finding{testFinding("SPCX", 44)};
+    var stale = [_]zfin.freshness.Finding{testFinding("NKE", 1)};
+    const report = testReport(&stale, &far);
+    try std.testing.expect(isFinding(report, "SPCX"));
+    try std.testing.expect(isFinding(report, "NKE"));
+    try std.testing.expect(!isFinding(report, "AMZN"));
+}
+
+test "printSweepConclusion: findings with nothing re-asked is not a closure" {
+    // The 5pm output. Symbols ARE behind, so no closure may be claimed, and the
+    // run must explain why it did nothing rather than looking like it missed them.
+    const a = std.testing.allocator;
+    var w: std.Io.Writer.Allocating = .init(a);
+    defer w.deinit();
+    try printSweepConclusion(&w.writer, .{
+        .ran = true,
+        .found = 2,
+        .attempted = 0,
+        .skipped = 2,
+        .still_behind = 2,
+        .stuck = 0,
+    }, &.{});
+    const s = w.written();
+    try std.testing.expect(std.mem.indexOf(u8, s, "market closure") == null);
+    try std.testing.expect(std.mem.indexOf(u8, s, "already queried this pass") != null);
+    try std.testing.expect(std.mem.indexOf(u8, s, "within what ordinary lag explains") != null);
+    // Must not read as resolved - the symbols are still behind.
+    try std.testing.expect(std.mem.indexOf(u8, s, "all clear") == null);
+}