Last Friday, federal regulators shut down Colorado National Bank in Colorado Springs, writes The Washington Post, part of a disturbing trend that stokes fears the recession could turn to depression. Indeed, things are so bad that TheStreet.com has taken to tracking failed banks across the nation (and there are plenty).

While too late for CNB and others, the cavalry, it seems, is on the horizon. The feds announced plans yesterday to help banks recover by cleaning up “bad” assets, a move that spurred the Dow Jones industrial average to rise nearly 500 points, notes the Denver Business Journal, with Janus Capital Group Inc. leading Colorado’s gainers. If the plan works, Salon points out, banks could return to the business of lending money, restoring the economy to its glory days.

Next on Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s to-do list is an overhaul of the banking system, writes The Associated Press. As for the collapsed Colorado bank, the new owners, Herring Bank of Amarillo, Texas, have a bailout plan of their own–a community bank, as the Colorado Springs Gazette reports.

According to a Slate article from last summer, banks “go bust” on Fridays so that new management can ease in before the start of a new week.