Why does the Federal Reserve buy bonds?

In late winter of 2020, the western world realized that COVID-19 was going to cause some major economic problems. Financial markets started to unravel globally at the fastest pace in modern history. The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate to zero and announced a massive bond purchasing program to support the economy. The same day the Federal Reserve announced its bond purchases would be open ended was the same day the stock market bottomed in the US and began a breakneck recovery. This isn't a coincidence. In this discussion, we talk about why the Fed buys bonds and how it is the only institution in the world that has the buying power to stop a major panic like we experienced in March of 2020 and September of 2008.