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.

Kenneth D. Lewis There are many ways to view Kenneth Lewis’ eight-year reign as Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) chief executive, but two seem to hold the most landscape.

Pop quiz: what happened a year ago today?

After earning hefty profits on its commodities trading for nearly 18 years, heavyweight trader Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) now finds itself on the hot seat, defending this crucial source of revenue. And while that may not be good for Goldman, it’s also bad for investors.  Let me explain…

 Goldman Sachs Would Have Collapsed If Not For Henry Paulson.

Goldman earned more than $1 billion a month in the second quarter – much of it from scavenging on fixed income, currency and commodities deals created by the credit crisis.

“We do not want a disclosable event.” Thus spoke former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson to Bank of America CEO, Ken Lewis, last December.

As you may have figured out, these Taipan Daily missives are (usually) written the day before. That way they can hit your inbox in time for a read with the morning coffee.

Pity the rich. Pity the CEOs. Pity the capitalists.

Could the president please make up his mind?