Several audit firm professionals tried to convince the SEC and PCAOB staff that they were mistaken in the belief that broker-dealer auditors could not sign the broker-dealer audit opinion as well as help implement accounting software, prepare period-end journal entries and compile those same financial statements and regulatory reports that they would audit.

FORBES: Auditors All Fall Down; PFGBest and MF Global Frauds Reveal Weak Watchdogs

Apple (AAPL) is working on a low-end iPhone, reports the Wall Street Journal.

FORBES: Hard To Imagine Steve Jobs Running Apple This Way

The Wall Street Journal reports the company is working on a lower-end iPhone that increase adoption of the device in emerging markets.

FORBES: Market Wrap: Loeb Versus Ackman, Apple's Cheaper iPhone, AIG Says It Won't Sue Uncle Sam

John Gross, an independent metals-industry consultant and former publisher of the Copper Journal, suggested the main positive of the revelation of the end-of-2010 Chinese level is the increased transparency.

FORBES: FT Story On Chinese Copper Inventories Captures Attention, But Impact Likely To Be Muted

The Wall Street Journal is today reporting that Apple is "working on a lower-end iPhone, " citing only "people familiar with the matter" as proof.

ENGADGET: Apple rumored to (again) be working on a cheaper iPhone, could arrive in late 2013

An analysis earlier this year by The Wall Street Journal found that other banks were reducing their level of debt at quarter-end.

WSJ: Ernst & Young Faces Fraud Charges