“The U.S. banking system is in trouble,” wrote John Maudlin last Friday.

Maudlin said the problem goes far beyond GSEs Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE). He also predicted that “we will have to deal with the aftermath of a rather large number of bank failures over the next year, which is likely to overwhelm the ability of the FDIC to insure your bank deposits.”

Later that day, Reuters reported that small Kansas bank Columbian Bank and Trust Company had become the ninth U.S. bank to fail this year as the weakening economy and falling home prices take thei toll on financial institutions…