David Rosenberg, chief economist at Gluskin Sheff & Associates, speaks during an interview in New York, May 6, 2011.

For the better part of 12 years, David Rosenberg was a rock star among perma-bears, an integral part of a crowd that saw little else but doom ahead for the markets and economy.

Now that he's changed his tune, the Gluskin Sheff senior economist and strategist finds himself a self-proclaimed "pariah," alienated from a group he considers detached from reality.



"There are segments of the perma-bear community that literally live their lives on the lunatic fringe," Rosenberg wrote in his popular "Breakfast with Dave" note he distributes each day to clients.

For Rosenberg to be that way with those who see nothing but trouble ahead is a curious change of events, being that he was once one of their champions. Back in 2010, he penned this analysis, reported on CNBC.com, that said the economy was not merely in recession but rather depression.

