Broker News

What's something that most people take for granted that it will always be there but which is actually finite and running out? If you answered oil, you'd be right; however, if you answered water, you'd also be right. Yes, that's right – welcome to the world of peak water. Here's what you need to know and how to profit from it:

While most of the world's developed nations continue to flounder in debt, an unlikely benefactor has stepped up to the plate with an unexplained offer of assistance. National Development and Reform Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Xiaoqiang told reporters that China is willing to buy bonds from countries struggling under the sovereign debt crisis, echoing the sentiments of Premier Wen Jiabao.

Long-time innovator and entrepreneur Steve Jobs recently stepped down as chief executive officer at Apple Inc., which he cofounded, after years of creating history with the company. Jobs had inspired the world by bouncing back from being fired from Apple in 1985 to go on to set up the hugely successful Pixar and ultimately get rehired as Apple Inc.'s chief executive officer in 1997. Today, the pressure of his career impacting his health has taken its toll, but his legendary status from pitting skill, wits, and determination against adversity is sure to live on.

What do September 11^th have to do with Lehman Brothers and what does any of this have to do with global finance and European economy? Let's take a quick look:

Earlier this month, UBS Investment Research released a report detailing the consequences of a "?Euro breakup" where one or more eurozone countries drop the common Euro. Although it may not have been obvious that the eurozone was even considering such a breakup in the first place, the report poses some interesting points. Since it appears to focus in parts on the consequence of a strong European country such as Germany dropping the Euro, some bloggers have speculated that the institute may have insider information that Germany is, in fact, considering such a move. The report does not confirm this but does state that a breakup would incur significant costs and is therefore not a probable scenario. Instead, UBS sees the Euro moving toward fiscal integration and finds that "?popular discussion of the breakup option considerably underestimates the consequences" of a breakup"”hence the report, which intends to set the record straight here. Some have suggested that a breakup would have a significantly negative impact on UBS and that this is the real motivation behind the focus of the report and its encouragement of moving toward fiscal integration as an alternative to breakup.

The Bank of America has been in the news quite often with its need to settle a seemingly endless stream of lawsuits this year as well as the steady decline of its stocks over the last few weeks. The bank has largely maintained that it is not in trouble with meeting capital demands, despite the numerous legal settlements it has had to make, amounting to $12.7 billion that it has paid thus far this year.

With the excitement of August over and the rise and fall of gold almost behind us, many are looking to September for clues to the future health of the economy. Last week alone, we saw major US indices produce their best weekly gain of the last two months. Historically, however, September has been one of the most volatile months in the year with frequent swings from high to low percentages above 10%. September also historically sees poor performance for equities on the S&P 500.

Hurricane Irene pounded the American Eastern Seaboard this past week, though it's hardly the only such unusual weather event to hit the country or indeed the whole planet recently. In fact, over the past couple of years, we've seen a vast increase in droughts in some areas along with floods in other areas.