Kass: Ben Stein Whistles Past Mortgage Mess

08/15/07 - 12:29 PM EDT

Doug Kass

Stein, like others, seems to endorse the ludicrous notion that there remains a negativity bubble. Many were wrong three months ago, and Stein is wrong today, as stocks and credit don't fall in the manner that they have in the past month if there is broad-based pessimism. Rather, with the benefit of hindsight, it is now clear that there was a bubble in optimism, as disbelief had been suspended on the part of buyers of credit, buyers of homes and buyers of stocks.

In his now-famous interview with Erin Burnett, Jim Cramer went on a rant in which he expressed his idea that certain members of the Fed didn't understand the severity of the current credit problem.

Jim Cramer knows how bad the situation is.

Ben, pardon my French (and my reference to Ferris Bueller's Cameron Frye), but on the subject of credit, you are clueless.

The credit event that you dismiss is already morphing into an economic event.

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At time of publication, Kass and/or his funds had no positions in the stocks mentioned, although holdings can change at any time.

Doug Kass is founder and president of Seabreeze Partners Management, Inc., and the general partner and investment manager of Seabreeze Partners Short LP and Seabreeze Partners Short Offshore Fund, Ltd. Until 1996, he was senior portfolio manager at Omega Advisors, a $6 billion investment partnership. Before that he was executive senior vice president and director of institutional equities of First Albany Corporation and JW Charles/CSG. He also was a General Partner of Glickenhaus & Co., and held various positions with Putnam Management and Kidder, Peabody. Kass received his bachelor's from Alfred University, and received a master's of business administration in finance from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School in 1972. He co-authored "Citibank: The Ralph Nader Report" with Nader and the Center for the Study of Responsive Law and currently serves as a guest host on CNBC's "Squawk Box."

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