As I noted yesterday, President Obama and Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, are working to move a new free trade agreement through Congress, based on a shared conviction that it is good for the country. Many Democrats, who do not share that conviction, are fighting it.

To understand what the stakes are here, and what the different sides are fighting for, let’s take a deeper look at how free trade works and how its benefits are distributed.

For the first time in a while, the U.S. has a major free trade agreement on the agenda. Trade is an interesting intersection of economics and politics, as we’ve seen in today’s news, which features President Obama and the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, working together for the first time in, well, ever, to overcome Democrats’ objections.

Over the past couple of days, the bond market has had a bit of a snit. Rates for government bonds have risen—meaning that prices have dropped—around the world.

As promised yesterday, I want to talk about how the Greek situation could end up disrupting Europe and the European financial system, but in a completely different way than most people expect.

Last week's strong employment report settled what I saw as the major short-term risk here in the U.S. Meanwhile, the biggest international risks—Greece and China—continue to make headlines, but the pot isn’t boiling over yet.

The employment report for April came in just right, not too hot and not too cold.

At 223,000, it was a bit below expectations, but not meaningfully so. More important, it was back above the 200,000 threshold and well above the 126,000 of last month, prompting immediate sighs of relief all around.

I participated in a brief panel on CNBC's Power Lunch program on Thursday, May 7, 2015. The discussion centered on whether equities are overvalued—and what that could mean for retail investors and the stock market. 

Once again, the chair of the Federal Reserve has weighed in on asset prices.

Yesterday, Janet Yellen said to Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund, that “equity market valuations at this point are quite high.” Her comment has prompted a certain amount of soul-searching in the media over whether Yellen should be talking about stock prices at all, whether she’s right, and, of course, what that means both for the market and for the future course of Fed actions.

Last night, a reader wrote in asking about a bold prediction by a “very successful financial advisor”: if Greece were to miss a payment and default on its debt, the market would fall 50 percent. Setting aside whether this financial advisor has moved all his clients to cash—and if he really believes in that idea, he certainly should—I very much disagree with his conclusion.

In my latest Market Thoughts video, I discuss the economy’s mixed performance in April, focusing on key economic indicators and the stock market. I also share how recent employment figures fit in with the recovery.