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Pastimes : Ya'll have a GooGoo Cluster & take a load off -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: E'Lane who wrote (2534)	1/10/2000 1:21:00 PM
From: E'Lane	Respond to of 26417

The latest on our "friend" --------- cbs.marketwatch.com Commentary Is Tokyo Joe getting a raw deal? SEC's prosecution stirs debate on the boards By Shawn Langlois, CBS MarketWatch Last Update: 7:07 PM ET Jan 6, 2000 SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) -- The pied-piper of online trading has daytraded his way into a bit of hot water with the Securities Exchange Commission On Wednesday, Federal regulators filed charges alleging all sorts of stock market chicanery from Yun Soo Oh Park, also known as "Tokyo Joe." See full story. And the bulletin boards are buzzing with arguments for and against. To be sure, reporting misleading information has no place in the stock market, but the question arises: should TJ be held up to the same standards as the media and financial institutions? After all, he's just a regular "Joe" that amassed a huge online following after making a few hot stock picks. In fact, the SEC is charging Joe with violating the Investment Advisors Act. That's funny, I thought that act covered registered Investment Advisors, a group to which TJ doesn't belong. He does belong to a large group of regular investors who use the Web, for better or worse, as a vehicle to make money in the stock market. One of my favorite things about the Net is its "wild west" atmosphere. People post outrageous comments without fear of censorship. If the SEC's charges are upheld, what's next? Will the SEC pluck every stock touter right out of cyberspace? The SEC will have its hands full if it intends to file charges against every message board lurker with a hidden agenda. Buyer Beware! Investors didn't flock to Tokyo Joe because of their devout belief in his integrity -- they came to make money, just like Yun Soo Oh Park. I may be outnumbered in my support of Tokyo Joe, but I'm not alone. The MarketWatch community was home to a bevy of opinions. Evester chimed in from the "pro-Joe" camp: "First off I do not think that Joe is a scam artist at all. He tries to protect members from losing money, not take it from them. He warns members that if they do not know how to trade, he will take it from them. He knows what he is doing, and most of his members do also. I think that TJ has a case against the SEC." But, to many in the MarketWatch community, Tokyo Joe represents everything wrong with the touting and bashing that takes place on a daily basis across the message boards. Just take a virtual stroll through Yahoo on any given day, and you'll likely see thousands of mini-Joe's in action. It's a rather comical phenomenon, but it can prove to be financially disastrous to many wide-eyed newbies who get whisked away by the hype. 4Bakers kicked off the Tokyo Joe witch hunt on the MarketWatch boards. "He is absolutely a scam artist, I subscribed for 2 months and could easily see it. The guy deserves some jail time." Clearly, 4Bakers wasn't the only disgruntled ex-client. Not much sympathy came from Knott either: "I have been hearing about Tokyo Joe for a long time on several message boards. I have never put any credence in his picks or any other so called guru. I remember earlier in the year everyone was breathlessly waiting for the stock picks of a 14 year old kid on his lunch break. I do my own due diligence, and make my own picks. Fry the guy. Tokyo Joe should be Jokeyo Joe." Zleevez admittedly learned the stock market ropes from the former burrito-slinger, but he didn't exactly rush to TJ's defense: "I was a member back in Dec. 1998 for one month just to try it out. I do keep an eye on his board on Silicon Investor, but I don't believe in his methods.The $50 Joe got from me was worth the price I got in education of stocks at the time because I was new to it. He had a good thing going but got too greedy and broke the rules -- now he must pay the price. Hope all the Joe's of the world are watching!"