David Rosenberg warned the buzz around stocks today is similar to the mania before past crashes. The economist noted that American consumers are running short of cash and struggling to borrow more. The veteran economist and Rosenberg Research president also rang the alarm on the US economy in a research note on Wednesday. "The balloon does have a lot of hot air in it," Rosenberg noted, suggesting it was hard to say when speculation and emotion would cease trumping fundamentals and rational thought. That has raised borrowing costs for consumers and businesses, and wreaked havoc on debt-fueled industries such as commercial real estate.

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Persons: David Rosenberg, Rosenberg, Irving Fisher, Abby Joseph Cohen, Chuck Prince's doozy, you've, Merrill Lynch Organizations: Service, Rosenberg Research, North, Nasdaq, Dow Jones, Big Tech, Consumers, New York, Federal Reserve Locations: Wall, Silicon, North American