The announcement by Ben Bernanke that the US Federal Reserve will slow down (or “taper”) its $85 billion a month bond purchase scheme towards the end of 2013 was met with a drop in the international stockmarkets. The announcement spooked the markets which have been extremely volatile of late. However since late June international exchanges have begun to recover their poise. It seems that the Fed’s QE programme continues to filter into the stockmarket. The S&P 500 rose to $1,690 on Friday.