No, I don't get the markets. But I don't like it

No, I'm not going to pretend to know what's going on in the stock market these days, especially with the DOW turning from a 600 point loss to a 260 point gain in the last 90 minutes of trading yesterday. But even with the last 2 days of gains, let's not forget that we're down 3,700 points in the last 3 months and 2,700 in this month.

The phrase "dead-cat bounce" comes to mind.

I also worry about the long-term picture. Note this chart, which shows that post-tax corporate profits are still up because of the one-time bump from the GOP Tax Scam. But the underlying profits are slipping, and while wage growth has ticked up a bit, it still isn't much.

The effects of the Trump/GOP tax cuts, in one chart.

Note the flat line in the middle.

Via @jimtankersley:https://t.co/7tSwOPIUCr pic.twitter.com/rPX8x3JTVn

— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) December 28, 2018

And now with no tax cuts coming in for 2019, those earnings amounts are going to decline to the "before-tax" line. Uh oh.

No, I don't trust what I'm seeing, and combine this with a loss of incomes from Trump's silly shutdown and the surprise many will see from having to pay the IRS when they file their taxes in a few months, and there's the shock to the economy that turns a slowdown into something worse.

When it comes to my stock market analysis, it's usually worth what you paid for it (I have an everyday job for a reason). But what do we see that would keep the economy going at 3% GDP growth and 2 million jobs added, other than spending ourselves into oblivion and making the inevitable recession that much worse?