Step 6, bank collapse.

Well, the list of indicators of economic collapse trucks right along. Apparently, the regulators are starting to show up at regional banks to keep them from failing.

Federal regulators close Arkansas bank ANB Financial
Friday May 9, 8:45 pm ET ANB Financial banks closed by federal regulators over 'unsafe and unsound' practices

BENTONVILLE, Ark. (AP) -- Federal regulators says they've closed ANB Financial National Association banks after discovering "unsafe and unsound" business practices there.

David Barr, a spokesman for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. says many customers served by the bank's nine locations had accounts under $100,000, which will be fully insured by the government. Barr says customers can continue to write checks and draw money from ATMs through the weekend.

Barr says Pulaski Bank and Trust Co. agreed to assume control over ANB Financial's bank locations, which will be open Monday.

As of Jan. 31, federal regulators say ANB Financial had about $2.1 billion in assets and $1.8 billion in total deposits.

It was the third closure this year of an FDIC-insured bank. Douglass National Bank, a Missouri bank with $58.5 million in assets, was shut in January; another Missouri institution with assets of $18.7 million, Hume Bank, was shut down in March.

Both were dwarfed in size of ANB Financial, where regulators found lax lending standards, mostly for construction and development loans for projects in Utah, Idaho and Wyoming, as well as Arkansas.

Observers have been watching for signs of bank distress resulting from the mortgage crisis. Profits at federally insured U.S. banks and thrifts plunged to a 16-year low in the fourth quarter as institutions set aside a record-high amount to cover losses from sour mortgages.

Yup kids, the game is afoot. While ANB hasn't got the name recognition of Bank of America or Citicorp, $2.1 billion is not a small bank. Pulaski, which now controls ANB has assets of only $1.3 Billion. By comparison, Bank of America's assets are $1.7 trillion, Wachovia's are 1.2 Trillion, Citigroup's are $1 trillion. While not a major player, the ANB collapse looks tied to the general meltdown of subprimes. For a state bank, ANB is a major closure.

Why is this happening in Arkansas and Missouri? Unknown at this point, perhaps these are the weak spots.