Money from trees

Goldman Sachs: $40 billion in securities sold tied to risky mortgages between 2006 and 2007 even while secretly short selling on those securities sold. -McClatchy

CEO of Goldman Sach's - Lloyd Blankfein

Kevin G Hall
Moody's Investor's Service
Key player in the financial crisis
Underwriters, mostly Newscentury, Ameriquest, Countrywide passed their mortgages to big investment banks such as Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, Goldman Sachs, and others. These investment banks worked with the ratings service agencies to package pools of mortgages into securities that would become collaterlized loan obligations or mortgage backed securities, essentially loans backed by mortgage payments. The buyers of these mortgage backed securities were usually pension funds, retirement funds, charitable endowments, and institutional investors. Many of these buyers were restricted to buy only top-rated securities. History shows that ratings were "made to order". Consequentially, Moody's revenue's grew to $2 billion in 2006. Moody's stock price from $13 in 2000 to above $72 in early 2007. The stock has since fallen by almost $50/share.