Earnings beats are up this quarter, but next week's lineup is the true test

Every weekday, CNBC Investment Club with Jim Cramer publishes Homestretch, an actionable afternoon update just in time for the final hour of trading on Wall Street. Market update: Stocks rally on Friday; The S&P 500 is trading at a record high, extending its gains to nearly 2% this week. Markets shrugged off concerns about a possible trade dispute with Canada after President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he was ending negotiations with Canada. Instead, the market rallied after September CPI data came in slightly colder than expected. That reading brought a sigh of relief and eased concerns that the economy was facing the double whammy of a softening labor market coupled with reaccelerating inflation. With September CPI data, the market expects the Fed to reduce interest rates by 25 basis points next week. Bank stocks are rising today on expectations that lower interest rates will help stimulate economic activity. Earnings scorecard: Nearly a third of the S&P 500 has reported earnings, and the results have been pretty good so far. Approximately 82% of companies reported revenue above forecasts, while approximately 87% beat profit forecasts. This beat rate is higher than the usual 62% revenue and 67% earnings beats, according to LSEG. Double hits, in which a company falls behind in both revenue and earnings, are also occurring more frequently. Almost three-quarters of companies reporting so far have achieved this feat; In the second quarter and the first quarter, this rate was 69% and 54%, respectively. Next week: As good as the quarterly results are, the real test will be next week. This is earnings fight week, when more than 150 companies in the S&P 500 and 10 stocks in the portfolio are scheduled to report. Across the portfolio, we'll hear from Corning, Boeing, Starbucks, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Bristol Myers, Eli Lilly, Amazon, Apple, and Linde. It's also Fed week: On Wednesday, the Federal Open Market Committee's two-day meeting will culminate in an interest rate decision. The market sees a 25 basis point rate cut as a virtual lock, but investors will want to get a better idea of whether a rate cut is also on the table in December. On trade, President Trump is expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea next Thursday. (See here for a complete list of stocks in Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust.) When you subscribe to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trading alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable foundation's portfolio. If Jim talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he would wait 72 hours after issuing the trading alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTMENT CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY, TOGETHER WITH THE DISCLAIMERS. NO CIVIL OBLIGATIONS OR DUTIES EXIST OR SHALL BE RESULTING FROM YOUR RECEIVING ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTMENT CLUB. NO SPECIFIC RESULT OR PROFIT GUARANTEE IS MADE.