Europe

The storm clouds are gathering over the European economy. The European Commission says the economy in the European Union will shrink this year and that next year it will only barely grow.

Making good on earlier promises, European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi has unveiled a huge bond-buying program aimed at tackling the European debt crisis.

They're calling it a "trade mission," but one can't help wondering what it might have to do with the debt crisis.

Among our main stories today are the wrap-up of earnings season, the potential fallout from the recent Apple vs. Samsung patent decision and the popularity of 3D movies in China.

French President Francois Hollande travels to Berlin today to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. That comes a day after Greek prime minister Antonis Samaras asked for more time to get Greece's fiscal house in order. In fact, over the next few days, Europe's skies will be full of dignitaries crisscrossing the continent trying to find a solution to the ongoing debt crisis.

Shares of BHP Billiton are down this morning, after the mining giant saw profits fall for the first time in three years.

Happiness is relative in Europe these days: Investors are cheering news the euro area's top economies did not turn in the abysmal results many had expected. Instead, things are just "garden-variety" bad.

To Europe, where economic sentiment is at a three year low, according to new figures out today. Though global markets seem to be putting that aside and focusing instead on a statement that came last week from the head of the European Central Bank.