Stocks dropped with the S&P stock index closing more than 2% lower on the day as the European summit kicked off.

Credit spreads widened out with financial bonds under-performing as Treasury bonds caught a bid from investors.

With trading volumes relatively light it is tough to discern how lasting today's movement will be; everything is contingent on what comes out of Europe.

It is safe to say, however, that there are more skeptics in the market than there are optimists.

The morning saw the markets rally briefly as the ECB (European Central Bank) announced an interest rate cut.

ECB President Mario Draghi left plenty of ammunition for further interest rate cuts in case the European markets are stressed again in the future (a very likely scenario).

There was an afternoon rumor that Europe's bailout fund may be able to access funding from the ECB; this rumor caused global stocks to rally intra-day off of their lows.

The rumor was quashed by a (predictable) German statement that denied that there was such a move.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has consistently held her ground against the concept of a "Euro-bond" although the market will push her in that direction.

The intra-day volatility in the Euro was impressive today, finally closing under 1.34 versus the U.S. dollar.

Oil dipped and closed under $100 a barrel.

So where is there value to be had?

Interestingly, with natural gas and coal extraction costs much lower in the United States compared to the rest of the world, the U.S. will soon start exporting more energy into overseas markets.

The relative strength of the "green lobby" in the United States also puts a cap on domestic refining capacity which means the U.S. may have to ship out (export) unrefined energy products and ship in (import) refined products.

In the medium term, this development could be a positive for the shipping industry, where the over-supply of shipping capacity has seen prices for ships hit a trough.

Savvier players will be looking closely at this trade.