Since the Great Recession's inception, whenever the stock market dropped like a steel anvil or the u.s. economy showed signs of weakness, the Federal Reserve acted to inspire investor confidence. For example, in November of 2008, when the Fed announced its first quantitative easing (QE1) program to buy mortgage-backed securities (MBS), stocks rocketed 10% in two weeks. The enthusiasm wore off quickly. In March of 2009, the central bank of the United States “doubled down” on the MBS dollar amount and simultaneously expanded its reach with a decision to acquire $300 billion of longer-term Treasury bonds. The 1-year program correlated with stock market gains of 70%.