This week marks the half way point in the fourth and final quarter of 2020. It's been quite a year hasn't it? We began with record economic growth, and record employment. Only to see all that crushed, as a Virus out of China sent the economy into a tail spin.

In the second quarter of the year, the nation's Gross Domestic Product, the measure of all goods and services produced, declined at an annualized rate of 32.9%. The greatest decline in history.

And when all was added up, 22 million Americans lost their jobs.

So that was then. Today's question: where do we currently stand?

So I thought that we should take a moment to go through the mechanics of the Election Process. The various steps in electing the president.

And for any investor this is a vitally important exercise. After all in the US System the President is the prime mover in determining tax and trade policy as well as setting an overall agenda for the Nation. So any change in President is always an important factor in building an investment strategy.

We live in an era of instant communications. And just as instant judgments.

Want to know the best car to buy, or doctor to use, or any of the myriad of things we consumer each year. No problem, a quick google search and you can come up with tons of recommendations, and even shop across the country for the best price.

It's a simple straight forward process for nearly every transaction that you can think about. Everything at our fingertips, on our computer or smartphone.

This is a replay of the November 5th Podcast. It outlines the need to audit the vote. Not just recound it.

The election has not been decided. As challenger Joe Biden, and President Donald Trump remained locked in this highly controversial contest. Charges of voter fraud, and ballot box stuffing are going back and forth among the two camps. And it is likely that this may drag on for some time as recounts, and law suits seem certain to be coming.

But for the rest of us, the ordinary workers in this economy, it's no time to take a break. Instead most Americans roll up their sleeves, and clock in at the job, just like normal.

As we publish this Podcast, at the New York Markets close on Friday afternoon. The Presidential Challenger, Joe Biden continues to pick up groups of votes, and it appears that he has a viable chance to win.

So let's take a look at the change that would occur if the United States were to transition from a Trump Presidency to a Biden Presidency.

Now audits have been the tried and true method that Wall Street, and indeed the entire American Financial System has relied on for almost the last 100 years.

It's been the way that the securities regulators have put away literally hundreds of crooks. If the numbers don't add up, you likely have a case of fraud. And in the Madoff case, there were years and years of the numbers never adding up, and a massive swindle.

So since the 1933 Act was made law, every publicly traded company, and every securities firm must stand for an annual audit. A complete thorough review of their financial, audited by an independent, accredited outside auditor.

While we in America were preoccupied with the Presidential Election, half a world away, in China, a really remarkable financial story is unfolding.

The Story centers around Ant Financial, which was scheduled to be the world's largest Initial Public Offering. The initial estimate was that Ant Financial would raise somewhere in the mid 30 billion equivalent US Dollars.

So captured are the Chinese about this new company, that they had already over-subscribed the issue by 5 or 6 times. Meaning that Ant was slated to become a very hot issue. And would naturally rise by multiples after it came to market.

It was scheduled to come to market yesterday. When suddenly, out of the blue, the Chinese regulators stepped in and stopped everything. Forcing the brokers involved to cancel the offering and refund the investors their money.

Today is election day in the United States. The day when millions of Americans go to the Polls, and cast their vote for the Next President.

You may remember that the last time an election occurred, back in 2016 most of the Pollsters predicted the wrong outcome. These professional survey experts predicted that Hillary Clinton would be elected President. And some made that prediction with a high level of certainty. As high as 90% certainty if I remember correctly.

Now the pollsters based their prediction on a series of surveys which they performed over the weeks leading up to the election. And because of the sampling size, and interview techniques they used, they were very certain of the outcome.

The problem was, they were dead wrong.

Tomorrow, the people of the United States will go to the polls to elect the next President. Its a duty and responsibility of the citizens which occurs every 4 years. For me, this will be my 12 Presidential election. And I can tell you from personal experience that this election is like no other.

If I may, let me put this elections in economic terms. Terms that I think will be most relevant to those of us who are investors. And I do recognize that there are many other issues involved in this very complicated, and divisive election. But here is my look from the financial point of view.