GC Breaks Consolidation — Watching the 8H FVG Retracement

The market enters a new month, new quarter, and a new contract after a significant shift in structure late last week.

Friday's rally finally broke price out of the consolidation that had been developing and reclaimed several important higher timeframe levels. The move was strong enough to leave behind an 8H Fair Value Gap, which immediately becomes one of the most important areas on the chart.

My focus this week is not predicting direction but determining whether buyers can defend the breakout.

While a pullback into the 8H FVG would be completely normal, I'm looking for evidence of acceptance rather than assuming the imbalance must fully fill. If buyers continue defending above the Weekly Open and Yearly High while reclaiming daily value, the path toward the Daily FVG becomes increasingly attractive.

Key areas I'm watching:

8H FVG mitigation
Weekly Open
Yearly High
Daily Value acceptance
Daily FVG overhead

The question this week is simple:

Was Friday the beginning of a larger bullish expansion, or merely a short-covering rally before another leg lower?

For now, patience remains the plan. Let the market show its hand.