This event has been postponed from March 11 to March 18 due to the weather
The Smithtown Historical Society will hold its annual Irish Luck on the Farm event at the Roseneath Cottage, 239 Middle Country Road, Smithtown on Saturday, March 18 from noon to 3 p.m. Experience fun for all ages with a walk-through petting zoo, traditional Irish step dancing performances, and other celebrations of Irish heritage. Entry fee is $5 per person. Questions? Call 631-265-6768.
Get ready to lose an hour of sleep, but gain an extra hour of daylight! Daylight Saving Time begins at 2 a.m. on Sunday, March 12. That’s when you’ll move your clocks forward by one hour and “spring forward.” The event is also a good time to change the batteries in your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. Daylight Saving Time ends on Nov. 5 this year.
By Michael E. Russell
After a rocky start this past February, I am really looking forward to St. Patrick’s Day.
The world economy is showing resilience despite higher energy and food prices as well as rising borrowing costs. This is troubling in that the Federal Reserve may have to continue raising rates in order to bring inflation under control.
The World Bank has been blindsided by the growing vitality shown by the economies of the U.S., Europe and the surprising data coming out of China.
At the close of 2022, the World Bank was predicting that 2023 would be one of the weakest years for the economy in decades. Well, so much for having advanced degrees from the Wharton School and Harvard! I probably should not have said that, but couldn’t help it.
To explain, when the U.S. Central Bank raises rates, emerging markets borrowing costs rise causing currencies and exports to weaken. It is important to note that the 5 major emerging markets are Brazil, India, South Africa, Russia and China.
There is nothing in the near term that indicates that Fed policy has slowed growth and inflation. Many analysts are now saying that a recession will be delayed until 2024. Let us hope that they continue to be wrong! There was a cartoon in last week’s Wall Street Journal that says it all. At an economists meeting a speaker was looking at a report and stated, “This opinion is vague, it needs to be made extremely vague.” And so it goes, always certain but seldom right.
Even the brightest of the bright make mistakes. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has admitted that its plan to be the bank for everybody failed miserably. Goldman should have stayed with the business model that had worked for decades, managing the wealth of institutions and high net-worth individuals. This model has generated steady fees, no matter what the direction of the market. As an example, their Asset and Wealth unit generated almost $10 billion in profit last year. Why would they want to start servicing checking accounts? Wharton School, Harvard? Oops, sorry again.
Back to the market. February showed that inflation isn’t slowing as fast as expected. Bond and Stock markets underperformed as interest rates spiked. The 10 year treasury bond hit 4% while 1 and 2 year notes reached 5%. The S&P dropped 2 ½%, Dow Industrials down 4.2% and the Nasdaq down 1%.
U.S. equity funds declined by 2.2% cutting the yearly gain to less than 5%. Energy, Science and Technology were the best performers showing losses of less than 1%. At the close of February, Gold fell 5.5%, the worst loss in more than 18 months. Until inflation eases, Gold will probably continue to show losses.
This past week, Barron’s listed what it considers the 100 most sustainable U.S. companies. I have mentioned many of those companies in previous articles. One that I have strongly recommended is Nvidia [Nvda]. This stock was up 13% one day last week. I consider this U.S. company a long term holding in a portfolio. Nvidia is at the forefront of Artificial Intelligence [AI]. The U.S. government is partnering with Nvidia to help harness the power of A.I. to help solve some of society’s biggest challenges. [Purportedly]! They have now teamed with Microsoft to build a massive Cloud A.I. computer. The company has given robust forward guidance estimates for the next 5 years, thus my recommending holding for the long term. As a caveat, AMD is always a threat as well as Intel.
Lastly, I really love these 2 year treasuries at 5%.
I hope each of you enjoy the coming spring which hopefully will bring lovely weather. On a closing note, happiest of birthdays to youngest son, Andrew Patrick, born on St. Patrick’s Day. Have one on me!!!
Michael E. Russell retired after 40 years working for various Wall Street firms. All recommendations being made here are not guaranteed and may incur a loss of principal. The opinions and investment recommendations expressed in the column are the author’s own. TBR News Media does not endorse any specific investment advice and urges investors to consult with their financial advisor.
Maria Palmar Properties, 202 East Main St., Port Jefferson recently announced that Sasha Kemnitzer has joined their team. Kemnitzer has worked in the real estate industry for nine years and has diverse experience, handling residential sales and rentals, commercial leases, as well as property management for a beachfront multi-million dollar vacation home. Being a native of Setauket, she specializes in the Three Village area, as well as Port Jefferson, although has handled multiple deals all over Long Island.
“Sasha knows and loves Port Jefferson and its surrounding towns, and enjoys helping people find their new home in the place she grew up in,” said owner Maria Palmer. “Her positive, personable, friendly approach minimizes your stress and makes buying/selling, or renting a home an exciting experience. Come by Maria Palmar Properties’ office in Port Jefferson to welcome Sasha Kemnitzer to the team, or call her direct at 631-921-5703.”
New York Health has announced the addition of Dodis Kohan, MD, to its team. Dr. Kohan is a board-certified Obstetrics & Gynecology Specialist with over thirty years of experience in providing high-quality OB/GYN care. He will practice at 518 Hawkins Avenue in Lake Ronkonkoma.
“We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Kohan to New York Health,” said Dr. Rohit Reejsinghani, FACP, MBA, Executive Director of NY Health. “His passion for providing quality OB/GYN care and his commitment to patient education make him a great fit for our organization.”
“I am excited to be practicing medicine and working directly with patients without the added responsibilities of office administration,” Dr. Kohan said. “At the end of the day, my ultimate goal is to help women have healthy pregnancies and healthy babies.”
For more information, call 631-676-7390 or visit nyhealth.com.
Deanna M. Eble, Esq. of Kings Park, and partner at the Russo Law Group, P.C., will be honored at the 2023 RichnerLIVE and Herald Community Newspapers fourth annual Premier Business Women Awards. The event will be held on March 22 at The Heritage Club at Bethpage.
Honorees will be formally recognized for their career achievements and community contributions.
“It is with great pride that I accept this award. I take great satisfaction in helping families address their legal needs, so they can focus their energies on spending time with their loved ones,” said Eble.
Eble focuses on Elder Law, Estate Planning, Special Needs Planning and Medicaid Planning, and has practiced in these areas for over 20 years. She is a member of the New York State Bar Association, a Co-Chair of the Health Care Issues Committee, Elder Counsel and is admitted to the New York Bar.
She earned her law degree at Hofstra University School of Law. Deanna frequently presents seminars on Elder Law and Estate Planning throughout Nassau and Suffolk counties.
As an attorney, Eble has helped hundreds of families with all levels of planning. She assists families interested in planning in advance for the possibility of incapacity and the need for long-term care.
Eble also helps families in crisis situations—when they have been told that a loved one must enter a nursing home soon, or has already been placed in one, and they need to obtain assistance from Medicaid quickly.
For more information, visit www.vjrussolaw.com.
The Stony Brook Village Center will welcome the newest addition to its open-air center, Schnitzels, opening this spring. Schnitzels will feature unique dishes with a landscape of flavors for breakfast, lunch and dinner, plus on the go eats.
Schnitzels is a new collaboration concept eatery created by the owners of Crazy Beans, Tim and Callie Martino, and the owner of Brew Cheese, Dave Striffler.
An all day menu will feature German bratwurst and pretzels, different variations of schnitzel along with a beer and wine list that will include German style beers and local craft beer on tap. They will be serving eggs for breakfast and lunch sandwiches that will also be available for takeout. For dinner they will be serving appetizers with share plates, as well as entrées.
Schnitzels is taking over the space formerly occupied by the Grist Mill Eatery at 77 Main Street.
Alan Cumming has become a stalwart and superbly entertaining supporter of Huntington’s Cinema Arts Centre, making yet another appearance there — his third — on Feb. 24.
As at past events, all ticket holders received a copy of Cumming’s second memoir, Baggage: Tales of a Fully Packed Life. Cumming’s documentary, My Old School, was screened first at the sold-out event, followed by an interview with audience Q&A, hosted by producer and curator Jud Newborn.
Audiences were regaled by examples of Cumming’s kaleidoscopic career and his array of award-winning credits in every genre of entertainment. Apart from audience adoration, the main spirit was one of good-natured hilarity — and Cumming left, with a light-hearted “see you next time!”
The No. 5/6 Stony Brook women’s lacrosse team (4-0) used a second half surge to come out on top and earn its third ranked win of the season against No.17 Stanford University (2-3) on March 3 at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego, California.
The Seawolves were paced by CAA Preseason Midfielder of the Year, Ellie Masera, who tallied a season-high five goals. Graduate attacker Jolie Creo, senior attackers Kailyn Har and Morgan Mitchell and senior midfielder Erin MacQuarrie all added a pair of goals each in the contest.
Stony Brook got off to a slow start as the squad was not able to find the back of the cage in the first quarter and trailed the Cardinal 4-0 heading into the quarter break. Stanford would go on to tally two more goals within the first two minutes of the second quarter from Ashley Humphrey and Annabel Frist.
With 9:35 remaining in the second quarter, Masera got the Seawolves on the board off an assist from junior midfielder Jaden Hampel. Stony Brook added three more goals in the quarter to cut the deficit to 7-4 heading into halftime.
The Seawolves came back on to the field with vengeance, scoring within the first 30 seconds of the third quarter courtesy of Morgan Mitchell who finished a free position shot. The squad tallied five more goals in the quarter, including a go-ahead man-down goal by Masera with four seconds remaining to give Stony Brook its first lead of the game, 10-9.
Masera, Hampel, Creo and Hart all registered goals in the fourth quarter secure the lead for the Seawolves and ultimately the 14-10 comeback victory.
The Stony Brook University men’s track and field team finished day two of the IC4A Championships in ninth-place overall out of 42 teams on Sunday at Boston University.
Senior Robert Becker added another IC4A title to his collection as he became only the 5th athlete in the history of the IC4A Championships (101 years) to win the mile race three different times.
In 2020, Becker earned his first IC4A title with a final time of 4:02.45. Last season, the graduate student crossed the finish line at 4:01.67. At the championship race today, Becker earned his triple title after finishing at 4:02.18.
Also in the mile race was senior Aiden Smyth. Smyth finished right-behind Becker in third-place, as he crossed the finish line at 4:04.30.
Stony Brook had another student-athlete who created history for the program. Senior Shane Henderson became the first athlete to get under the 8:00 minute barrier in the 3000m, as the Connecticut native crossed the finish line at 7:59.30, giving himself the new program record.
Becker earned a first-place finish in the mile with his final time of 4:02.18, securing his third career IC4A win. The fastest pace Becker ran at was at the end of the race, as he tallied 29.19 and 27.52 to finish at 4:02.18.
Smyth avenged his 4:09.12 finish that earned him ninth-place overall last season at the IC4A Championships with the time of 4:04.30.
Senior Colin Ross earned a 19th-place finish in the 3000 meter by finishing at 8:18.92.
“We are really happy with how everyone competed today. It was a great performance by Becker and Henderson in their last indoor meet as Seawolves. Extremely proud of the way our guys performed,” said head coach Andy Ronan.
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