Yoshikazu Tsugiyama is devastated that his Livedoor shares have nosedived.
He is just one of thousands of individual investors who bet their money on Takafumi Horie's rising Internet company and are now saddled with shares whose value has fallen by more than 80 percent in little more than a week.
"They've turned into trash," the 29-year-old bar owner, sometimes actor and even less frequent trader said Wednesday. "I'm really worried."