Scott Rubner, Chief Equity/Derivatives Strategist at Citadel Securities, stated that despite a constructive view on U.S. equities for Q4, the upcoming Q3 earnings season in the next few weeks will be a "stress test" for the fundamental backdrop. Market consensus expects S&P 500 earnings per share to grow by approximately 27% year-over-year, marking the third-highest pre-earnings season expectation since 2010. Around 47% of S&P 500 index-weighted companies are scheduled to release their results between October 28 and November 3, with Micron and NVIDIA collectively contributing 36% of the S&P 500's expected earnings growth. Citadel Securities noted a rebound in retail investor buying (net purchases of $9.1 billion last week) and a rally in equal-weighted indices, but subdued index volatility is masking rising single-stock risks. The firm prefers selective single-stock exposure over simply increasing index beta.