Financial Institution FAIL

It's a New Year, a new decade, and a new... sobering reminder that the US economy, while stabilizing, is far from out of the woods, right in our own backyard. Bellingham-based Horizon Bank has the dubious distinction of becoming the first bank to go under in 2010, CNN reports.

Agents of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation closed Horizon Banks on Friday afternoon, making way for a smooth transition as 18 of the bank's branches reopened on Saturday morning as branches of Seattle-based Washington Federal Savings and Loan. Customers of the bank should experience a fairly seamless transition, and anyone with less than $250,000 in their savings will be fully insured.

Our sympathies to Horizon Bank, their customers and employees, are tempered by an understanding that they will probably be just one of the dozens of small, community banks who, still beleaguered by unwise investments, may yet fail before the end of this year. 140 US banks shuttered their doors last year, the highest number in almost two decades. And while we can hope that the trend will slow in 2010, thinking that it will reverse entirely is probably rather Pollyannaish.