Date: Thu Aug 20, 2026 | Expiration: Aug 20, 2026
We study SPY and Trade SPX SPDR 500 ZERO DTE Index.
🎯 QZ ALGO CREED — Probability Over Prediction
We don’t forecast. We read positioning — where Market Maker exposure sits, where the walls are, and how MM is priced across strikes. That tells us where price is constrained, not where it’s going. Structure decides the trade.
📋 EXECUTIVE DASHBOARD — SPY Thu Aug 20, 2026
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| Snapshot | Value | Read |
|---|---|---|
| Spot | 770.01 | On the #1 Absolute, just under Max Pain |
| Max Pain | 771 | Just above spot |
| Flip | 767.88 | Spot just above → holding the gate |
| #1 / #2 Absolute | 770 / 768 | Both negative → amplify bias if the Flip breaks |
LEVEL LADDER (high → low):
| Dir | Level | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 🟢 ▲ | 776 / 775 / 774 | Positive pins — 774 the flip to green |
| 🔴 | 773 / 772 | Negative overhead |
| 🔵 | 771 | Max Pain (just above spot) |
| ☕ | 770.01 | WE ARE HERE — on #1 Abs (770, −12.3M) |
| 🔴 | 769 | Daddy Bear (−24.9M) + put wall |
| 🔴 | 768 | #2 Abs + put wall (−12.9M) |
| 🟠 | 767.88 | FLIP |
| 🔴 ▼ | 760 | Mama Bear (−18M) put wall — deep magnet |
THE THREE PATHS:
| Path | Trigger → Target |
|---|---|
| 🟢 Bullish | Reclaim 771 (Max Pain) → 773 → 774/775 green pins |
| ⚪ Neutral | Chop 768–771 (negative cluster + Max Pain) |
| 🔴 Bearish | Lose Flip 767.88 → amplify to 760 |
⚡ OPENING NOTE
SPY Spot: 770.01 · Max Pain: 771 · Flip: 767.88. P
📊 TV VALUES
SPY String — paste into QZ ALGO Daily Magnets:
776,775,774,770.01,771,767.88,768,760,769,770
SPX String:
7760,7750,7740,7700.1,7710,7678.8,7680,7600,7690,7700
Options Flow — VOLUME (Strike, Calls, Puts):
775, 41K, 2K
770, 92K, 108K
769, 33K, 92K
768, 14K, 59K
Options Flow — OPEN INTEREST (Strike, Calls, Puts):
775, 8K, 4K
770, 4K, 6K
769, 1K, 5K
768, 3K, 5K
🌡️ QZ TEMPERATURE
🌡️ SPY — Level then COLOR (Sign):
770 RED (Minus)
768 RED (Minus)
769 RED (Minus)
773 RED (Minus)
767 RED (Minus)
774 GREEN (Plus)
775 GREEN (Plus)
776 GREEN (Plus)
777 GREEN (Plus)
778 GREEN (Plus)
🧭 STRUCTURE CHECK
Market Structure (5 Min):
| Structure | Level | Status |
|---|---|---|
| HH (Higher High) | ~773.00 | Prior high |
| HL (Higher Low) | ~768.00 | Bounce low |
| Current | ~769.5 | Basing / recovering |
Q ALGO™ Status: 🔄 BASING (bounce off HL) — recovering
SPY sold from a Higher High near 773 to a Higher Low around 768, then based and recovered toward the pivots (R3 770.52 / P 767.94), trading ~769.5. Hold above the P/Flip and reclaim 771 to press the green pins; lose 767.88 (Flip / P) and it slips back toward the 766 pivots and the 760 magnet. (Structure chart reads ~769.5; the exposure snapshot reads spot 770.01 — aligned.)
📊 DECISION TABLE
| Level | What It Is | Action |
|---|---|---|
| 776 | 🎯 Baby Bull (+7.8M) | Upside pin |
| 775 | Mama Bull (+9M) + Abs #5 | Positive pin |
| 774 | 🎯 Daddy Bull (+10.7M) | The flip to green |
| 773 | Abs #4 (30.6M) — negative | Overhead battle |
| 772 | Abs #8 (16.3M) — negative | Battle |
| 771 | 🔵 MAX PAIN | Magnet just above spot |
| 770.01 | ☕ WE ARE HERE (Spot) | On #1 Abs |
| 770 | 🎯 #1 Abs (81.1M) — net −12.3M | The wall at spot |
| 769 | 👹 Daddy Bear (−24.9M) + Abs #3 + put wall | Just below spot |
| 768 | 👹 Baby Bear (−12.9M) + #2 Abs + put wall | Shelf |
| 767.88 | 🟠 FLIP | Regime gate |
| 767 | Abs #6 (21.8M) — negative | Just below Flip |
| 760 | 👹 Mama Bear (−18M) + Abs #7 + put wall | Deep magnet |
🎯 THREE BEARS / THREE BULLS (by MM Exposure size)
THE THREE BEARS (Negative):
| Bear | Strike | MM Exposure | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S1 = DADDY | 769 | −24.9M | 6.1K | 125.0K |
| S2 = MAMA | 760 | −18.0M | 10.2K | 16.9K |
| S3 = BABY | 768 | −12.9M | 7.5K | 73.4K |
S1 (769) is the big put wall just below spot; S2 (760) is the deep downside magnet.
THE THREE BULLS (Positive):
| Bull | Strike | MM Exposure | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| B1 = DADDY | 774 | +10.7M | 4.6K | 44.5K |
| B2 = MAMA | 775 | +9.0M | 11.5K | 43.0K |
| B3 = BABY | 776 | +7.8M | 7.0K | 30.6K |
🔴 Bearish tilt, easing. Bears 55.8M vs Bulls 27.5M ≈ 2:1 (down from ~14:1 Wednesday). The negatives still cluster at spot (768–770), but real green pins have built at 774–776 — so a reclaim through the cluster now has targets. The Flip 767.88 is the pivot.
☕ RANGE ZONE
| Zone | Why |
|---|---|
| 768 — 774 | Spot sits between the put walls / Flip (768/769/767.88) and the green pins (774–776), with Max Pain 771 in between. Hold the Flip and squeeze up through 771 toward 774; lose it and the negatives amplify toward 760. |
Commentary: 770 carries the highest total volume on the board (199K), with 769 (125K), 772 (82K) and 768 (73K) behind — enormous churn right at spot and the put walls. Only strikes with a clean call/put split appear in the flow tables.
🔥 THURSDAY FACTOR
| Wednesday (8/19) | Thursday (8/20) |
|---|---|
| 767.04 — below the Flip, all puts | 770.01 — bounced ~3, back above the Flip |
| Bearish ~14:1 (amplification) | Bearish ~2:1 (easing) |
| No pins above | Green pins built at 774–776 |
Bounced and stabilized. Price recovered ~3 points off Wednesday’s lows and reclaimed above the Flip (767.88), cutting the extreme bearishness from ~14:1 to ~2:1. Spot sits on the #1 abs (770) at Max Pain 771, still in a negative cluster but now with real green pins overhead at 774–776. Hold the Flip / 768 and it can squeeze up through Max Pain toward 774/775; lose 767.88 and the 760 magnet comes back into play.
🎯 Q ALGO™ CHECKLIST — WE DON’T TRADE EMOTIONS, WE LOOK FOR CLUES
| Step | What We Check |
|---|---|
| 1 | LEVELS (from this newsletter) |
| 2 | 15-Min chart |
| 3 | 5-Min chart |
| 4 | 1-Min chart |
| 5 | BANDS |
| 6 | River |
| 7 | Volume Line (Fair Value) |
| 8 | Candle for Entry |
| 9 | Flip Line |
| 10 | Trend Context (Trend Engine) |
| 11 | Pivots |
| 12 | LQ Areas |
| 13 | Entry Candle |
| 14 | Flow |
| 15 | VSA + QVDD |
No Structure = No Trade. Not all checklist items need to align — build your edge based on your own edge. Recovering-but-negative day: respect the Flip 767.88 — a hold sets up the squeeze through Max Pain toward 774, a loss reopens the 760 magnet.
📋 OI TABLE — SUPPORT vs RESISTANCE
| Call OI (Resistance) | Strike | Put OI (Support) | PCR (P/C OI) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7,564 | 775 | 3,936 | 0.52 |
| 4,457 | 770 | 6,044 | 1.36 |
| 1,438 | 769 | 4,644 | 3.23 |
| 2,851 | 768 | 4,645 | 1.63 |
⚖️ Disclaimer
This is not investment advisory. I’m not calling trades. I’m teaching you to think. Trading futures and options involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for all investors. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The IKIGAI Algo and any associated indicators, tools, or educational materials are provided for informational and educational purposes only and do not constitute financial, investment, or trading advice. You should consult with a qualified financial advisor before making any trading decisions. Q Levels and affiliated parties are not registered investment advisors, broker-dealers, or financial planners. By participation, you acknowledge you are solely responsible for your own trading decisions and any resulting gains or losses. No guarantees of profit or specific results are made or implied. All sales are final. Please trade responsibly and only risk capital you can afford to lose. Errors and omissions excepted.
— Q Levels Trading | Coffee With Q ☕