At The Motley Fool, we know our readers like to be informed, so we've scouted out today's most relevant news items and brought them to you all on one page. We hope you find this midday edition informative and useful.

Carlyle plunges into the market
Looking to join a group of few publicly traded private-equity firms, Carlyle Group finally filed for an initial public offering on Tuesday. The IPO will shed some light on the operations of the business, which, according to the filing, manages $153 billion across 86 funds and 49 funds of funds. It also reported a net income of $1.5 billion attributable to Carlyle. Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX), one of Carlyle's biggest competitors, made $485.5 million in economic net income.

The company said it has restructured itself to become a public company. The three founders will remain at the top, one serving as chairman and the other two as co-chief executives. The group is looking to raise $100 million with the offer, a number likely to change in the future. Read more at The New York Times.

NFL gets back its sponsors
After a four-month lockout, the National Football League is ready to get back on track. Its sponsors are. too. Since the deal for a new football season was struck, sponsorship revenue is expected to be 15% more than in previous years. NFL revenue is slated to reach $9.5 billion, $100 million more than expected. PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP), for one, announced that it will renew its deal, which could ultimately be valued at $2.3 billion through the 2022 playoffs and will ensure the presence of the Gatorade cooler on the sidelines. Among some other sideline mainstays are the headsets from Motorola Mobility (NYSE: MMI). which is expected to renew its contract as well.

The league has also announced deals with insurer USAA and electronics maker Bose and has renewed its deal with General Motors (NYSE: GM). By all accounts, the league appears to have regained its usual health despite a delay in season-ticket renewals and a sluggish economy. Read more at The Wall Street Journal.

General Electric aims high
Ten years after taking the reins of one of the world's largest companies, Jeffrey Immelt said he has few regrets about how he has managed it. He also said the goal for General Electric's (NYSE: GE) future is to have higher returns than the S&P 500.

Through those 10 years, investors saw the company's stock fall 60% down to $16, along with the first dividend cut, two recessions, and the sell-off of many of the company's sales-driving businesses. Today's GE is more focused on energy, health care, and transportation.

Immelt said one of his mistakes was to let GE Capital get too big. As of June, GE Capital held 2 million of GE's shares. Many analysts said GE was a victim of the critics on Wall Street, but GE executives are taking measures to make the company more stable. Read more at Bloomberg.

Europe's debt crisis takes a toll on Wall Street
U.S. stock indexes fell by more than 2% in the morning on worries that the European crisis is spreading and the American economy is going back into a recession. European stocks also fell by nearly 4%, with banks hitting a 29-month low.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) dropped 2.36% in early morning trading while the S&P 500 fell 2.46% and the Nasdaq fell 2.23%. Leading the U.S. drop were Bank of America, losing 5.8% to $6.83, and JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), falling 4.7% to $33. Read more at Reuters.

So there you have it -- the top financial stories for this afternoon. If you're interested in getting all the news and commentary on these stocks, sign up for My Watchlist -- it's free!