Look no further than the Q2 earnings of Coca Cola (NYSE: KO) to see that America lost the Cold War.

As emerging markets thrive, we can no longer afford the staple of Yankee Doodle consumerism: a bottle of Coke. Even the CEO of Coca Cola admitted that the U.S. market is slipping, and he will place greater emphasis on emerging markets.

Any investor who seriously wants to make money in emerging markets can probably do much better for himself by recognizing the truth that America lost the Cold War to Russia and China. This is not an ideological belief, but an economic one. As the middle class in Russia, China and other emerging markets continue to grow, we now cannot afford a 20-ounce bottle of Coke.

That’s completely incredible…

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An article in CNN.com today sent shivers down my spine.

My gut reaction to the story was that America is in an economic nosedive it may never recover from. Then came this sense of anguish that so many Americans are missing out on the long-term opportunity of diversifying into emerging markets.

Why don’t more of us consider emerging markets as the next big payoff? Because we cling to the belief that we won the Cold War. And in turn, we hold fast to the dream that America is less volatile than emerging markets.

American’s surround themselves with the trappings of Cold War victory — the comfortable home, four cars in the driveway, credit cards jammed into our wallets, and an armada of electronic gizmos that shield the new economic realities of the vanquished.

But just look at the CNN.com story…

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What if you discovered that America actually lost the Cold War?

When you accept the truth that the Cold War was an American catastrophe, everything starts to make sense from an investment perspective. Even the craziest money-making ideas, like giant shopping malls in Siberia.

You have to check it out…

This article about the new Siberian mall ran in the May 17th issue of the New York Times. It’s a must-read for investors interested in emerging markets such as Russia. The story is important, not only for its gist, but for what it doesn’t tell you. It’s a classic case of Big Media delivering the sizzle without the meat.

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“I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!”

That outburst is enshrined in movie history. It’s from the 1976 satire “Network,” which went on to win four Academy Awards.

The now-famous line gave fire to a diatribe by a news anchor named Howard Beale with declining ratings. Played by the great Peter Finch, he urges Americans to yell it out their windows during a dazzling lightning storm.

Beale rants “Everybody knows things are bad. It’s a depression. Everybody’s out of work or scared of losing their job. The dollar buys a nickel’s work, banks are going bust, shopkeepers keep a gun under the counter. Punks are running wild in the street and there’s nobody anywhere who seems to know what to do, and there’s no end to it. We know the air is unfit to breathe and our food is unfit to eat, and we sit watching our TV’s while some local newscaster tells us that today we had fifteen homicides and sixty-three violent crimes, as if that’s the way it’s supposed to be.” Continue Reading »