By Peter Morici

President Obama is betting a lot on free trade. Recently, he has agreed to open talks for mega trade deals with the European Union and Japan in hopes of jump-starting growth in both places and boosting U.S. exports and jobs. However, far from an elixir, free trade has been a rock on the back of the U.S. economy and American workers, and the Obama strategy will only make things worse.

On university blackboards where economists theorize, free trade is a compelling idea-let each nation do more of what it does best, and international commerce will raise national productivity and incomes. But these benefits are not guaranteed if a few big nations can cheat on the rules.

The World Trade Organization has greatly reduced tariffs, export subsidies, and barriers to trade posed by domestic polices, such as biases in government procurement and discriminatory product standards. In addition, U.S. deals with Mexico, Canada, South Korea, and other small nations have reduced tariffs on

Another week on Wall Street and more records shattered as the S&P 500 finally found its way past the 2007 intraday high it hit in October of 2007. While stocks ended Friday on a flat note, both the S&P and the Dow saw their best weekly performances of 2013 so far (as commodities tanked) and, on Thursday, ended at fresh all-time highs. As our senior columnist Michael Santoli points out in Friday's column, "The [S&P 500] is up 11% so far this year, more than the average annual gain through documented history."

What can throw a wrench into this (arguably) "unloved," low-volume rally?

Well, much could hinge on earnings results from next week's jam-packed week, in which no less than 74 S&P 500 companies will report. Financials will be a major focus following Friday's reports from JPMorgan (JPM) and Morgan Stanley (MS), which failed to impress investors once they dug below the surface of their analyst beats.

And of course Monday brings our favorite national holiday: Tax Day in America. We've