It’s a fact of life that everyone makes mistakes. Including arguably the best official in the history of the National Football League, whom your author had the opportunity to meet, chat with, and listen to on Monday.
So in addition to the market developments you’re accustomed to seeing each week, we thought Jerry Markbreit’s comments for 200 or so nationally prominent financial advisors gathered in Phoenix yesterday merited your attention. His themes were the stuff of success in any endeavor.
The only official ever to referee in four Super Bowls, we think you’ll find Jerry’s story both interesting and inspiring.
The market news isn’t bad either. Enjoy!
All the best,
Lee and Jeremy
P.S. Yes, financial experts spoke too, and plenty was learned there, too! More on that next week. -L
This Week’s Quote:
“You want everything to be perfect. But it's not a perfect science. There's nothing perfect.”
~Jerry Markbreit
JL Davis Thoughts This Week:
Perfection or excellence: which is truly possible for us mortals? Perhaps the best official in National Football League history, Jerry Markbreit passionately pursued excellence.
Markbreit was one of several featured speakers at Transamerica Capital Management’s Phoenix conference. As is habit, I arrived a few minutes early to his presentation, which was slated to begin shortly after lunch on Monday. We had a wonderful 10 minute chat, sharing experiences about speaking engagements. Jerry was about to go on stage to speak to an audience of 200 or so financial advisors from around the country.
By way of background, I did some research on Mr. Markbreit. Like many men and women who excel in their field, Jerry started at the bottom. At age 19, he began refereeing intramural college football games for $3 per game, 3 games per weekend. Working his way slowly up the ladder year after year, he became one of the best officials in the NCAA’s Big Ten. Jerry applied for a job in the National Football League, certain he says, that his application would be trash canned. 461 NFL games followed with Jerry on the field officiating.
Prior to his retirement in 1998, he was probably the best-known referee in the NFL. Officials are critically ranked on every single call they make in each game, throughout every season and ranked against their peers. If they’re at the top, their reward is officiating playoff games, conference championships, and Super Bowls. Jerry’s 10 divisional assignments, 8 conference championships, and 4 Super Bowls (the most ever by an official) speaks volumes about his ability to get the calls right.
The theme of Jerry’s comments was simple, yet universal: Mistakes happen, in spite of your best efforts. Handling them with integrity, as well as a sense of humor, allows everyone to benefit and learn something that can they can apply the next time around.
His first Super Bowl was just such an example. As he puts it, “this was the most important and exciting day of my entire life.” That day, Jerry inexplicably instantly forgot whether Dolphins captain Bob Kutchenberg had called heads or tails, completely blowing the opening coin toss for the first and only time in league history. The players at mid-field, including Joe Theismann of the Washington Redskins, quickly corrected Jerry. But his mistake was seen on national TV by virtually the entire country and most of the free world.
At the conclusion of the contest, NFL Commissioner Peter Rozelle came into the locker room where the officials had just finished debriefing and preparing to leave. Things got quiet. Mr. Rozelle then commented that he had just witnessed the best championship he had ever seen called by an officiating crew. Out of earshot of the others, he smiled at Jerry and whispered, “Once we got through the coin toss.”
In 43 seasons as an official, including 21 in the NFL, Jerry’s exhibited excellence in an often unpopular job. His preparation, fair mindedness, integrity, hard work and diligence are the stuff that successful people in all fields are made of. So I forgave him for the calls he got wrong where the Denver Broncos and Dallas Cowboys were concerned!**
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Markbreit
Market Week: May 20, 2013
The Markets
Bears were on the defensive last week as both the Dow and the S&P 500 once again set fresh record highs. Friday's close put the S&P 500 up almost 147% from its March 2009 low, while the small-cap Russell 2000 has almost tripled since then. Meanwhile, gold followed up on the previous week's losses by losing some more. The spot price fell below $1,400 an ounce last Monday and kept on going; it ended the week at roughly $1,365, having lost more than 7% in a little over a week.
Last Week's Headlines
•Retail sales were up 0.1% in March, and for a change, the reason wasn't higher gas prices. The Commerce Department said spending at gas stations fell 4.7%, while building materials/garden supplies, auto/auto parts, clothing, general merchandise, and nonstore retailers all gained at least 1% for the month.
•Inflation showed no signs of putting pressure on the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates. For the second straight month, falling oil prices were responsible for a drop in the Consumer Price Index. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, April's 0.4% decline was the steepest since December 2008, and it pushed the annual consumer inflation rate down to 1.1%--its lowest level since November 2010. Meanwhile, wholesale prices fell 0.7% (also largely because of oil prices), putting the wholesale inflation rate for the last 12 months at 0.6%, its lowest since last July.
•Manufacturing data was underwhelming as both the Federal Reserve's Empire State and Philly Fed manufacturing surveys showed general business conditions declining during the month. The Empire State index for May fell to -1.4--its first negative reading since January--while the Philly Fed number sank to -5.2.
•The Conference Board's index of leading economic indicators rebounded from a slight decline to rise 0.6% in April. Housing permits and the interest rate spread were the most positive of the index's 10 indicators.
Eye on the Week Ahead
Investors will parse minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee to see whether sentiment is tipping toward winding down quantitative easing sooner rather than later. Home sales and durable goods orders also are on tap.
Key dates and data releases: home resales, FOMC minutes (5/22); new home sales (5/23); durable goods orders (5/24).
Data sources: Includes data provided by Brounes & Associates. All information is based on sources deemed reliable, but no warranty or guarantee is made as to its accuracy or completeness. Neither the information nor any opinion expressed herein constitutes a solicitation for the purchase or sale of any securities, and should not be relied on as financial advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is a price-weighted index composed of 30 widely traded blue-chip U.S. common stocks. The S&P 500 is a market-cap weighted index composed of the common stocks of 500 leading companies in leading industries of the U.S. economy. The NASDAQ Composite Index is a market-value weighted index of all common stocks listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange. The Russell 2000 is a market-cap weighted index composed of 2000 U.S. small-cap common stocks. The Global Dow is an equally weighted index of 150 widely traded blue-chip common stocks worldwide. Market indexes listed are unmanaged and are not available for direct investment.
Prepared by Lee Davis** and Broadridge Investor Communication Solutions, Inc. Copyright 2013
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