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Ahead of the rumored release date of the iPhone 5, rush orders semiconductors received by Apple supplier, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, have led to rumors that Broadcom is the source of the orders, and that can only lead to the conclusion that it is for the next-generation iPhone.

Broadcom is being pegged as the likely source of the rush orders for iPhone 5 parts because they are the only company in that category that has posted a strong third-quarter forecast, and since they are the key link between TSMC and Apple, speculators are leaning towards this theory.

Interestingly, even though the iPhone 5 release date is reportedly only weeks away, demand for the iPhone 4 is still “surprisingly robust”, in the words of Shaw Wu of Sterne Agee. However, this doesn’t resonate with Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer’s statement last quarter that future products would lead to gradual revenue decline for the older members of the iPad and iPhone families. iPad 2 sales have been strong as well, considering that the iPad 3 rumors are rampant in tech circles. Notably, some say that the rush orders may indicate an “upward revision” of demand on the iPhone 4 instead of being an indication that the iPhone 5 release date is looming closer. In the meantime, both the iPhone 4 as well as the iPad sales have continued to go from strength to strength.

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Swiss Bank UBS said today that rogue trades forced it to undergo a $2B loss through unauthorized trading by one of its employees. An employee has been arrested in connection with the case; Kweku Adoboli, 31, was held on suspicions of fraud after the incident.

The rogue trades are a harsh blow to UBS, which is fighting hard to claim credibility once again after several years of crisis-combat. The $2B loss reportedly cancels out the savings from the 3,500 job cuts that were announced last month. It also raised concerns over the state of its investment bank; CEO Oswald Greubel is currently in the process of reviewing it as part of an overall restructuring program necessitated by credit crisis-related losses and implications that UBS has been helping rich U.S. clients avoid taxes. The restructuring announcement for the investment bank will be made on Nov 17, an investor day.

Referring to the rogue trades issue over unauthorized trading, UBS in a statement said, “The matter is still being investigated, but UBS’s current estimate of the loss on the trades is in the range of $2 billion.” They have confirmed, however, that no client position has been compromised at this point but since the matter is currently under investigation, nothing is known about the potential fallout aspects of this scandal.

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