In 1997, he started posting his own stock picks on Silicon Investor, one of the largest stock chat sites on the Web.

Today on Silicon Investor, there are four threads devoted to Tokyo Joe's stock picks.

In 1997 he used his own name to join Silicon Investor, a Web site offering stock quotes.

Web sites like Silicon Investor, a financial site that serves as an online water cooler of sorts, are full of angry commentary about falling prices.

Other investors sounding off on the Silicon Investor's site on the Internet tell similar tales.

"When you buy a stock and talk about it on Silicon Investor, it becomes more than just a stock," Mr. Mitchell said.

On popular sites like Silicon Investor, an online stock forum, he plied his trade with great bravado.

On Silicon Investor, a Web site favored by stock mavens, a new section devoted to the killings includes a comment from someone who goes by the screen name Max.

There are also scores of Internet sites devoted to the markets, like Wall Street City, or the Silicon Investor for technology-stock buffs.

A little after midnight on March 26, 1999, someone posted a message on Silicon Investor wanting to know if Autobytel.com shares would begin trading later that day.