Well I didn’t cut out too much earlier than usual last Friday, but I did get my mountaintop hike in over the weekend.  My 10 year old son had made a New Year’s resolution last winter to hike Mt. Timpanogos this year and it turns out that this was the weekend that he had decided to do it.  Helping Bentley reach his goal was an awesome experience, and during the descent back down toward Aspen Grove I started reflecting on my goals for the year and how they are coming along.   While the pain in my feet increased commensurate elevation drop, tranquility filled my mind as I did some head math and figured out that I think that I will be able to hit all of my goals too.  Despite the aches of an aging body and sharing the trail with some 40,000 other people, it was all-in-all a pretty euphoric experience.

Stocks are up today on hopes that China will cut their rates to stimulate their weakening economy.  The probability of our Central Bank raising rates at their next meeting, meanwhile, fell to 20% after last Friday’s weak Jobs Report.