China's listed brokerages have been hot with investors since local markets reopened after the Labor Day holiday. Most of the heat stems from an upcoming financial innovation and development conference slated to kick off Wednesday, an event which market players believe will help brokers provide more dynamic and innovative service offerings.

To a certain degree, this optimism isn't entirely off base - a similar meeting last year was quickly followed up by moves from securities regulators to expand short selling, leveraged trading and other nontraditional services. These maneuvers threw brokers a financial lifeline as demand for transaction and underwriting services fell off a cliff.

But here is another likely scenario: investors will scoop up brokerage stocks in the coming days until the euphoria dies down; then these stocks will slide again as investors realize that the biggest obstacle standing in the way of brokerages isn't their narrow business scope, but the poor quality of the assets for sale at mainland bourses.

The author is Zachary Lowell, a business editor at the Global Times.