Federal Reserve earned $45 billion in 2009 - washingtonpost.com

An interesting effect of the Fed making so many loans to troubled institutions, so long as those loans are paid back, is that the Fed's own income is enhanced. That could become problematic pretty quickly if the loans aren't paid back, because as so many traditional lenders have discovered, it's REALLY tough to make up for loans losses with interest income.

Federal Reserve earned $45 billion in 2009 - washingtonpost.com

Additional earnings are created when the Fed buys Treasury securities, which have nearly quadrupled on its books since last year, in order to keep interest rates low.
The Fed now owns nearly $2 TRILLION of those, and of course can incur losses if it sells them at at a higher yield (lower price) in order to raise rates and thereby reduce the overall money supply.

For now, though, the Federal Reserve is a money maker: perhaps $45 billion??!! That's way better than our largest traditional banking institutions. The money, by the way, goes right back into the U.S. Treasury. - David