Carl Icahn told CNBC on Thursday that bearish bets by fellow billionaire investor George Soros have merit because the stock market has been artificially boosted by prolonged low interest rates.
Some of the values in stocks, "you just have to wonder," the chairman of Icahn Enterprises told "Squawk Box" in a wide-ranging interview.
Soros has returned to trading after a long hiatus, according to The Wall Street Journal, directing a series of big, bearish investments. The paper reports he sold stocks, and bought gold and shares of gold miners.
Icahn did not get specific on areas of agreement with Soros, saying at the time of the interview that he hadn't had a chance to take a deep dive on the Journal article.
"I don't think you can have [near] zero interest rates for much longer without having these bubbles explode on you," Icahn did say. "You [also] need fiscal stimulus [from Congress]."
Lots of experts make predictions about the stock market, Icahn said, but it's "ridiculous" to think anyone can always get it right in the short term.
He added that he sees China's "credit problem" posing a "risk" to the global financial landscape: "I don't think the last bullish guy in the world would ignore that."
"If you look at what we call 'our fund' we probably are net short [in investments]. But we [also] own a lot of companies at IEP ... so you really have a built in hedge," Icahn said.
Overall at Icahn Enterprises, he added, the firm is net long, when factoring the businesses the investment firm owns, such as refineries and rail cars. "We [also] own Pep Boys."