Granite Group Advisors was founded on two simple principles: ethics and integrity. Refusing to be dominated by conflicts of interest and hidden fee structures, the partners at Granite Group strive to have a deep understanding of their clients and earn their trust. They work only with investment firms that maintain a consistent investment discipline, offering lower volatility and using fundamental analysis to limit the downside during market turmoil. Lyle B. Himebaugh III, partner and co-founder, is a 27-year veteran of the private wealth management industry. Before joining Granite Group, Mr. Himebaugh was vice president of private client services at Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB), where he managed and originated customized investment strategies for clients. Richard C. Zipkis, partner and co-founder, has 27 years of private wealth management experience. Mr. Zipkis previously served as head of the managed equity and fixed income business of the private client services division at CSFB.
Articles Written
View AllIs it folly to predict a recession?
The old rule of thumb is that a recession is two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth. However, the National Bureau of Economic Research uses a broader definition: A recession is a significant decline in activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months, visible in industrial production, employment, real income, and wholesale-retail […]
By Lyle B. Himebaugh III
Nov 12, 2019Investing influenced by politics: Is this the new normal?
Many years ago, investing was primarily a function of trends, growth and fundamentals of finance, and politics had very little to do with an investor’s outcome. Policies always played a part in some way, but they were more of a road map of consistency in the flow of economics. But in the last couple of […]
By Lyle B. Himebaugh III
Aug 6, 2019Does centralizing economic policy actually make any sense?
When looking at policies that are demanded or approved by the federal government, it seems that most don’t make much economic sense. For the sake of discussion, let’s look at the minimum wage on the federal and the state level. Many have lobbied the federal government to raise the minimum wage from the current $7.25 to […]
By Lyle B. Himebaugh III
May 20, 2019How do we assess the Federal Reserve and recent economic slowdowns?
As we are studying the cycles of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy, a most interesting statistic crossed our desk during the holiday season. The average length of time from the last Fed rate hike to the first Fed rate drop was a mere five months. That’s correct: only five short months to the first rate drop. […]
By Lyle B. Himebaugh III
Mar 26, 2019How do we fix our trade imbalance?
Recently, plenty of discussion has swirled around President Trump’s policy of imposing tariffs on many of the imported goods coming from China, Europe, Canada and other nations. The intent behind these tariffs has been to fix what Trump and others see as an international trade imbalance that is unfair to our nation. At this point, […]
By Lyle B. Himebaugh III
Dec 18, 2018Why are currencies important to understand?
Historically, the U.S. dollar has been the strongest and safest currency in the world. However, from time to time, due to weak economics or overspending, the dollar can weaken. Interestingly, this is generally good for most investments. Our biggest companies in the United States have become global in nature and earn enormous amounts of money […]
By Lyle B. Himebaugh III
May 22, 2018Taxes, taxes and more taxes: Is that the answer?
At the time of this writing, we still have not seen a tax bill sent to the president for signing. Instead, we’re watching a lot of horse-trading go on among politicians, as we—and they—try to determine who is for and who is against the bill. Meanwhile, we’re catching an enormous amount of rhetoric coming from […]
By Lyle B. Himebaugh III
Feb 28, 2018When you consider politics versus policy, how do both, or each one separately, affect investing?
Many people have a tough time deciphering the difference between politics and policy and their effect on investing. With the new administration deep into its first year, it’s important to recognize the difference between politics and policy and how that difference can affect your investments. The simplest way to describe the difference is to understand that one is words and one is actions. Politics […]
By Lyle B. Himebaugh III
Oct 31, 2017What is happening with the new Fiduciary Rule?
The new Department of Labor (DOL) Fiduciary rule went into effect on June 9. In reality, according to the DOL, the ruling will not be enforced until January 1 of 2018. However, as of June 9, all advisors to retirement plans were required to comply with the new standard, which says advisors must act in […]
By Lyle B. Himebaugh III
Sep 12, 2017What is powering economic confidence and the upward movement in the stock market?
The fear of a Trump presidency took hold on the night of the 2016 election, evidenced by the dramatic drop in U.S. equity futures. That night, we also saw Dow futures slide roughly 800 points, but then in the morning, general expectations were thwarted. In fact, an upward movement in the stock market actually occurred. […]
By Lyle B. Himebaugh III
May 30, 2017What can we expect, financially speaking, in 2017?
It was well over a year ago that I looked at my children and told them that Donald Trump was going to be the next president. Then, the night of the election, I kept thinking, This outcome is not possible; how could I have been correct in my prediction? Like most people, I was in […]
By Lyle B. Himebaugh III
May 28, 2017What’s the fiduciary responsibility for your company’s retirement plan?
At this point, most everyone (including us) has commented ad nauseam on the impacts and issues of the new fiduciary rules on brokers and advisors in the handling of corporate retirement plans. Worth readers are certainly aware of those rules. Many are owners or heads of companies which themselves may be the named fiduciary for […]
By Lyle B. Himebaugh III
Dec 7, 2016Is the future of finance a robo-advisor?
Recently, a movement to the use of automated, or “robo,” advisors has been occurring in the field of financial advice. So, it’s timely to look at the details of what is available, whether it is worthwhile and if it even works. Historically, investors generally had two choices: do it themselves or hire an advisor. Today, […]
By Lyle B. Himebaugh III
Aug 19, 2016Is there a recession coming?
Since early this year, many economists and Wall Street pundits have been discussing the possibility of a recession appearing soon in the United States. And, indeed, there are many reasons to think that our country may be about to enter into its first recession since the end of the financial crisis in March 2009. These […]
By Lyle B. Himebaugh III
Jun 1, 2016Where is the inflation people keep talking about?
When most people think of inflation, they view it as a measure of the cost of goods increasing in price. And, with all that we have seen over the last few years, we would expect inflation to be rising faster than has been reported. We have seen increased prices, after all, on almost everything: food, […]
By Lyle B. Himebaugh III
Feb 6, 2016Newsletter Subscriptions
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