SPX + SPY ZERO DTE (Pre-Market) Aug 26, 2026
Date: Wed Aug 26, 2026 | Expiration: Aug 26, 2026
We study SPY and Trade SPX SPDR 500 ZERO DTE Index.
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🎯 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 Wed Aug 26, 2026
| Snapshot | Value | Read |
|---|---|---|
| Spot | 765.9 | Sitting right on the 765 monster pin |
| Max Pain | 765 | = the monster wall (at spot) |
| Flip | 768.69 | Spot below — but the 765 pin dominates today |
| #1 Absolute | 765 | 252.4M — a massive put wall, dwarfs everything ~8:1 |
| 🔵 PINNED at 765 | Bear weight is the 765 wall at spot (a pin/floor, not a push) |
LEVEL LADDER (high → low):
| Dir | Level | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 🟢 ▲ | 770 / 769 | Small positive pins — 769 Daddy Bull (+6.5M) |
| 🟠 | 768.69 | FLIP |
| 🟢 | 768 / 767 | Small positives — 767 the flip to green |
| 🟢 | 766 | Small positive |
| ☕ | 765.9 | WE ARE HERE (spot) |
| 🔵 ◆ | 765 | MAX PAIN + #1 Abs monster put wall (−208.4M, 39K puts) — the pin |
| 🔴 ▼ | 764 / 763 / 762 | Negative shelf (put walls) |
THE THREE PATHS:
| Path | Trigger → Target |
|---|---|
| 🟢 Bullish | Reclaim 767 → the green pins → the Flip 768.69 |
| ⚪ Neutral | PINNED at 765 (Max Pain + monster wall — the magnet) |
| 🔴 Bearish | Crack the 765 wall → 764/763 put shelf |
⚡ OPENING NOTE
SPY Spot: 765.9 · Max Pain: 765 · Flip: 768.69. The character changed to a PIN. A monster wall built at 765 overnight — it’s Max Pain, the #1 Absolute at 252.4M, and a −208.4M Daddy Bear with a 38,944-contract put wall, and it dwarfs everything else on the board (~8x the #2 strike). Price is now magnetized to 765. Note the nuance: the raw bear/bull ratio looks extreme, but almost all the bear weight is the 765 wall sitting right at spot — so it acts as a huge pin/floor, not a downside push. Above, the greens are small (767–770) up to the Flip. This is a pin-and-chop day: 765 is a massive magnet/floor — clear 767 to drift up toward the Flip, or crack 765 to open the 764/763 shelf. Read it with structure — no levels, no trade.
📊 TV VALUES
📌 OI / Levels Note: These are pre-market LEVELS — a positioning snapshot taken before the open. Open Interest and MM exposure shift as the live chain updates through the session, so treat these as the map and the bias, not real-time truth.
SPY String — paste into QZ ALGO Daily Magnets:
767,768,769,765.9,765,768.69,762,763,765,765
SPX String:
7670,7680,7690,7659,7650,7686.9,7620,7630,7650,7650
Options Flow — VOLUME (Strike, Calls, Puts):
770, 22K, 2K
767, 45K, 12K
765, 69K, 91K
764, 23K, 54K
763, 9K, 33K
Options Flow — OPEN INTEREST (Strike, Calls, Puts):
770, 3K, 2K
767, 2K, 1K
765, 4K, 39K
764, 2K, 4K
763, 1K, 5K
🌡️ QZ TEMPERATURE
🌡️ SPY — Level then COLOR (Sign):
765 RED (Minus)
763 RED (Minus)
764 RED (Minus)
762 RED (Minus)
761 RED (Minus)
769 GREEN (Plus)
768 GREEN (Plus)
767 GREEN (Plus)
770 GREEN (Plus)
766 GREEN (Plus)
🧭 STRUCTURE CHECK
Market Structure (5 Min):
| Structure | Level | Status |
|---|---|---|
| LH (Lower High) | ~766.50 | Chop marker |
| HL (Higher Low) | ~765.00 | Bounce low (= the pin) |
| Current | ~765.8 | Chopping on the pin |
Q ALGO™ Status: 🔄 PINNED / chop at 765
SPY is chopping in a tight band right on the 765 pin, between a Lower High near 766.5 and a Higher Low at 765, trading ~765.8. Clear 767 to drift toward the Flip; lose the 765 wall to open the 764/763 shelf — but the 765 put wall is a heavy magnet/floor, so a tight pin is the base case. (Structure chart reads ~765.8; the exposure snapshot reads spot 765.9 — aligned.)
🎯 CONFLUENCE — 765 IS THE PIN (MONSTER MAX-PAIN WALL)
Everything today is 765. It’s Max Pain, the #1 Absolute (252.4M — eight times the #2 strike), and a −208.4M Daddy Bear built on a 38,944-contract put wall. When one strike is this dominant, price gets pinned to it — the magnet overwhelms the rest of the board. Because the wall sits right at spot, it functions as a huge floor/magnet rather than a directional amplifier. The greens above (767 → 769 → the Flip 768.69) are small, and the negatives below (764/763/762) are ordinary put walls. So: price glued near 765; a clear of 767 drifts it up toward the Flip, and only a real crack of the 765 wall opens the 764/763 shelf.
📊 DECISION TABLE
| Level | What It Is | Action |
|---|---|---|
| 770 | Positive (+4.9M) + Abs #5 | Upside pin (far) |
| 769 | 🎯 Daddy Bull (+6.5M) | Pin |
| 768.69 | 🟠 FLIP | Regime gate |
| 768 | Mama Bull (+5.8M) + Abs #7 | Pin |
| 767 | 🎯 Baby Bull (+5M) + Abs #6 | The flip to green |
| 766 | Abs #4 (23.5M) — small positive | Pin |
| 765.9 | ☕ WE ARE HERE (Spot) | On the pin |
| 765 | 🔵 MAX PAIN + #1 Abs (252.4M) + Daddy Bear (−208.4M) monster put wall | The pin / magnet |
| 764 | 👹 Bear (−9.1M) + #2 Abs | Shelf |
| 763 | 👹 Mama Bear (−18.2M) + #3 Abs + put wall | Shelf |
| 762 | 👹 Baby Bear (−14.5M) + Abs #8 | Shelf |
🎯 THREE BEARS / THREE BULLS (by MM Exposure size)
THE THREE BEARS (Negative):
| Bear | Strike | MM Exposure | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S1 = DADDY | 765 | −208.4M | 42.7K | 160.1K |
| S2 = MAMA | 763 | −18.2M | 5.7K | 42.4K |
| S3 = BABY | 762 | −14.5M | 5.0K | 29.6K |
S1 (765) is Max Pain + #1 Abs + a 39K put wall — sitting AT spot, so it’s a pin/floor, not a downside push.
THE THREE BULLS (Positive):
| Bull | Strike | MM Exposure | OI | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| B1 = DADDY | 769 | +6.5M | 3.7K | 19.2K |
| B2 = MAMA | 768 | +5.8M | 3.7K | 33.5K |
| B3 = BABY | 767 | +5.0M | 3.7K | 56.9K |
🔵 Pinned board. Raw totals read Bears 241M vs Bulls 17.3M (~14:1), but ~87% of that bear weight is the single 765 wall at spot — so this is a pin, not amplification. The honest read: price magnetized to 765, small green pins toward the Flip, ordinary put shelf below.
☕ RANGE ZONE
| Zone | Why |
|---|---|
| 765 — 767 | Spot pins on the 765 monster wall with only small greens up to 767. The 765 put wall is a heavy magnet/floor, so expect a tight pin/chop — a clear of 767 drifts toward the Flip, a crack of 765 opens the shelf below. |
Commentary: 765 carries the highest total volume on the board (160K), with 766 (115K), 764 (77K) and 767 (57K) behind — enormous churn right on the pin. Only strikes with a clean call/put split appear in the flow tables.
🎯 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. Pin day: expect chop on the 765 magnet — wait for the 767 clear up or a real crack of the 765 wall down; don’t fight the pin.
✈️ Pilots — read the live chain at the open. These newsletter values are pre-market LEVELS; the options chain is real-time data. Check the live chain around 9:45–10:00 AM ET, once conditions settle, and confirm the walls are still where the letter has them. Levels give you the map and the bias — the live chain is the truth at the open, so weight your reliance accordingly before you trade.
📋 OI TABLE — SUPPORT vs RESISTANCE
| Call OI (Resistance) | Strike | Put OI (Support) |
|---|---|---|
| 3,088 | 770 | 2,008 |
| 2,281 | 767 | 1,461 |
| 3,721 | 765 | 38,944 |
| 1,828 | 764 | 3,513 |
| 991 | 763 | 4,734 |
⚖️ 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 ☕