Naturally, at the focus of renewed market pessimism is a struggling financial: CIT Group. (NYSE:CIT) The company — a hundred-year-old staple of small/medium business lending — is no stranger to walking the credit tightrope. They narrowly averted fiscal meltdown late last year with $2.3 billion in TARP bucks… then again in July by goosing bondholders with a $3 billion a debt-to-equity deal. Back then we joked, “Look for this crisis to repeat in a couple weeks.” We were wrong… it took a couple months.

Upbeat headlines have been everywhere in recent weeks, and they all seem to point to a single conclusion: The U.S. economy is in the early stages of a very rapid recovery.

iPhones Carry Apple Past Wall Street Estimates; Coca-Cola Beats Estimates of Overseas Sales; CIT May Still Face Bankruptcy; TARP Czar Calls for Transparency; Caterpillar Stock Jumps on Brighter Outlook; BlackRock Beats Estimates, State Street Falls Short; Merck Considering Partner For Schering-Plough Consumer Health Operations; Yahoo Sales Down, Profit Up

Retail investors had a rough go of things in the first half, but since the March lows of all the markets, the Standard & Poor’s Retail Index is showing progress toward its 52-week high of 427.13.

The probably bankruptcy of CIT Group Inc. (NYSE: CIT) could have major implications on the retail and manufacturing sectors this week, as many related companies are reliant on the financing giant.

Risk aversion has left the building…  CIT survives without Fed help…  SNB tries to fight the markets…  Light week for US data… And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

GM May Salvage Pontiac Car; CIT Void to Be Filled, More Expensive; Dell Expects Higher Q2 Revenue; U.S., UBS Lawsuit Delayed for Possible Settlement; U.S. Deficit Grows; Russian Investor Boosts Stake in Facebook; Microsoft Office Goes Online

Consumer Prices Increase Less Than Expected; Ten Banks Repay TARP Debt; Bankrupt Eddie Bauer Attempts Sale; Berkshire Hathaway Options Begin Trading; FedEx Losses Mount; Saab Cuts Debt; Gas Prices Keep Going, Going, Up; Boeing Gets First Air Show Order; China Will Invest Sovereign Wealth in Hedge Funds; Analyst: S&P 500 Will Hit New Highs By 2012; Bond Yields Drop; Mortgage Apps Plunge

After posting four consecutive quarterly losses, CIT Group Inc. (CIT) took a step in the right direction yesterday (Tuesday), announcing it struck $1.8 billion in separate deals with Lone Star Funds and a subsidiary of Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.A, BRK.B).

Dallas, Tex.-based Lone Star will acquire CIT’s home lending business, which has $9.3 billion in assets and related servicing operations, for $1.5 billion in cash and the assumption of $4.4 billion in outstanding debt, MarketWatch reported.