The mortgage meltdown is by no means over, but now consumers need to brace for another economic crisis--credit cards.

According to the consumer Web site Credit.com, at the end of last year, U.S. consumers owed more than $961 billion in credit card debt. Although not as large as the $11 trillion mortgage market, that's still a lot of lost cash and lenders are starting to feel the consequences of the huge lines of credit they have been allowing. American's have been borrowing more money than they can pay back, and credit card companies have been there to support the habit every step of the way.

Sound familiar? The situation is almost the same as the housing crisis, in which people have been taking on mortgages they can't afford. Now it all seems to be catching up to them.

People who are already stretched for cash are not only going to have a harder time paying their credit card bills, they may also start using borrowed cash to pay for basic living expenses. Not to mention that the unemployment rate has increased by about 2 million people in the last 12 months. For many, the only solution is to pile debt on top of debt.

Lenders are bracing for consumers defaulting. They are tightening their wallets to soften the blow, and we, as consumers, will feel the pressure. "I would not be surprised if credit card companies start finding creative ways to add to the bottom line," says Bill Hardekopf, CEO of consumer Web site LowCards.com.

Here are some things to be aware of in terms of using credit cards in our current economy.

Lenders are going to start raising the standards of who they loan money to and how the consumer pays them back. It may seem just as easy to get a credit card today as it was yesterday, but the terms and how much you can extend your credit limit are probably going to be stricter.

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You can expect to see more serious consequences for missing a payment. Some lenders are lowering credit limits or hiking up interest rates after just one missed payment. When credit scoring companies, such as Fair Isaac Corp. (FICO) see these negative shifts in your credit, your credit score is probably going to go down. Be aware that some credit cards are decreasing credit limits or increasing interest rates even if you're not at fault. Be sure to monitor your credit card statement. Lenders are allowed to increase your interest rate without even telling you.

You will find that your credit score is going to matter more now than it ever did before, and you'll want to protect it. Credit card companies are not the only suddenly more cautious lenders out there. For example, you may find it harder to get a car loan and you may see student loan interest rates going up. "Lenders are going to be cherry-picking customers," says Gerri Detweiler, author of The Ultimate Credit Handbook: How to Cut Your Debt and Have a Lifetime of Great Credit. You're probably going to need a decent credit score to get a good deal on a loan. Expect to need a credit score about 100 points higher than what you may have needed in the past for a particular loan.

Now is a great time to start thinking about paying off any debt you have so you can avoid paying even more in interest than you already do, if your rates do go up. Consider consolidating your debt with a card that carries a low interest rate. Usually there is a fee to transfer balances, typically been about 3%, but lately fees have been increasing so be sure to do your research. You could opt for the old-fashioned approach; use your card less and pay off more. If any lessons have been learned, it's that credit cards are not smart emergency funds.

If you think the card you have now might not be the best for you--whether the interest rate is too high or the rewards are not what you're looking for, think about switching. Be sure to pay off the balance or consolidate your debt before you do so. Don't start opening too many new cards, though, because this can affect your credit score. Keep this in mind during the holidays as well, when retailers will be pushing cards on you.

If you are shopping around for some new cards, here are a few to check out. ("See Best Credit Cards For The Buck.") Labor union members may want to look into credit union cards. "[Labor union cards] don't engage in some of the more egregious practices such as ... raising your rate at any time for any reason." says Detweiler.

Look for cards that have low rates, but still offer rewards, such as the Advanta (nasdaq: ADVNA - news - people ) Small Business Card or Blue from American Express (nyse: AXP - news - people ). If you are working on building or rebuilding your credit, think about a secured credit card. Secured cards are like pre-paid credit cards. Your line of credit is as high as the amount of money you give to the lender, so you are never really borrowing money, but you are reestablishing your credit history which will use to better loan rates in the future.

You shouldn't stop using credit cards altogether, as we're realizing our credit score is going to be more important as lenders get choosier. In fact, now may be the time to prove yourself to lenders as a trustworthy investment. Keep your debt low and your credit strong, and lenders will be eager to work with you. You may find you'll get benefits with good credit that you haven't been able to get in the past.

Evidence of a recession piled ever higher Friday, with new figures showing Americans are spending less and gloomy about the economy, while the government signaled it won't buy stock in the financing arms of auto companies to prop them up. The Commerce Department reported consumer spending dropped a sharp 0.3 percent in September while their incomes, the fuel for future spending, managed only a small 0.2 percent gain.

That followed a report a day earlier that the U.S. economy shrank by 0.3 percent in the third quarter. The accepted definition of a recession is two straight quarters of a shrinking economy.

Closing out the worst October in 21 years but one of the best weeks ever, investors did some bargain shopping on Wall Street, snapping up stocks that have plunged in value. The Dow Jones industrial average gained nearly 145 points.

Meanwhile, the outgoing Bush administration sent signals to automakers and other industries hoping for government purchases of their stock that they probably won't qualify for the program.

Administration officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the program is still being put together, said it was unlikely the auto companies would be able to qualify for direct government purchases of stock in their auto-financing arms as part of the $250 billion stock purchase program.

They could still be eligible for government purchases of bad assets, such as auto loans, under a separate program that is expected to spend $100 billion initially. The government plans to buy stock in banks and lift bad assets on their books as part of the financial system bailout.

The wrangling over the broader rescue program continued, with Democrats stressing Congress wants the package to be used to pump new loans into the economy, not diverted to stockholders or executives or to buy other banks.

"I am deeply disappointed that a number of financial institutions are distorting the legislation that Congress passed," said House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass. He announced hearings on the rescue package Nov. 12 and 18.

The Treasury Department said it would extend a Nov. 15 deadline for banks that do not have publicly traded stock to apply for the government stock-purchasing plan - a plan that could extend to 6,000 banks.

The bank rescue is intended to shore up financial companies and get lending, the lifeblood of the economy, going again.

Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said in a speech that whatever system is constructed following the government takeover of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac must have better safeguards to make sure it can work during times of stress.

Bernanke said the credit crisis had exposed serious deficiencies in areas beyond home loans.

"The boom in subprime mortgage lending was only part of a much broader credit boom characterized by underpricing of risk, excessive leverage and the creation of complex and opaque financial instruments that proved fragile under stress," Bernanke said.

As the nation learns more about what went wrong, the economy grows ever bleaker. The Commerce Department report that consumer spending fell by 0.3 percent in September followed two months in which spending was essentially flat.

A separate survey released Friday by the University of Michigan and Reuters showed consumer confidence in October fell to 57.6, the biggest one-month drop in the survey's history, which dates to 1978.

And economists expect Americans to cut back further. The nation's financial outlook is dimming just as the critical holiday shopping season looms, and stores are bracing for one of the worst on record.

David Wyss, chief economist at Standard & Poor's in New York, said he believed the recession could turn out to be the longest in the post World War II period.

"Things are still looking soft and the light at the end of the tunnel is a long way off," Wyss said.

In a separate report, the Labor Department said the wages and benefits of U.S. workers rose by a modest 0.7 percent in the third quarter, the same as in the first and second quarters.

The spending report showed that an inflation gauge tied to spending edged up just 0.1 percent in September. But prices over the past year are up by more than 4 percent, and inflation is outside the Fed's comfort zone.

Still, the central bank is expected to focus on fighting to keep the country out of a severe recession - not raising rates to fight inflation.

The Fed cut a key interest rate by a half-point on Wednesday to 1 percent, tying the lowest level in the past half-century. Analysts said if the economy remains weak, the Fed could well cut rates again at their last meeting of the year on Dec. 16.

Associated Press Writers Jennifer Loven and Christopher Rugaber in Washington contributed to this report.

Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed

* China feeling effect of credit crunch

* Britain's Brown asks Gulf states to cough up

* Russia makes more funds available

By Angus MacSwan

LONDON, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Two powerhouse emerging market countries in Asia felt the sting of the global financial crisis on Saturday as India cut its main short-term lending rate and China said it was bracing for a slowdown.

In Europe, Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who has played a big role in combating the crisis, appealed to oil-rich Gulf states to pour money into stabilising the world financial system and helping afflicted countries.

Other countries took steps to shore up their own economies. Russia moved 170 billion roubles ($6.41 billion) from a national fund to a state bank on Saturday as part of Moscow's $200 billion markets and economy rescue plan.

And German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged German banks to tap a 500 billion euro ($638.9 billion) government rescue package. She and Brown will meet in London on Thursday.

The developments in the worst financial crisis in eight decades followed signs in the past week that world markets were stabilising, with interbank rates falling and U.S. stocks posting their best week in 34 years.

But in Shanghai, a senior Bank of China (BOC) executive told a financial conference the impact of the crisis on China has started to appear.

China has seen a sharp slowdown in industrial profit growth and fiscal income, Executive Vice President Zhu Min told a financial conference. The global economy will likely enter recession next year with the United States, Europe and Japan posting negative growth, he said.

"That will have a huge impact on China," he said.

Zhu also said currency volatility was expected to add further pressure on China's banks, which have enjoyed robust profits for years as the country boomed. Earnings growth is now slowing as the economy cools from the impact of the crisis.

"The uncertainties in the world's currency markets have exposed the Chinese banking sector to higher foreign asset risk," Zhu said.

ACTION ON LIQUIDITY FRONT

In India -- like China, a magnet for foreign investment investment in recent years as their economies roared -- the central bank cut its main lending rate for the second time in as many weeks to ease a cash squeeze and spur economic growth.

Analysts said the surprise move showed Indian concern that strains on its economy were quickly becoming more severe.

"These actions were necessary (and had) to be taken on the liquidity front...the situation was getting worse," said Vikas Agarwal, strategist at JP Morgan.

The central bank cut the repo rate or its main short-term lending rate by 50 basis points to 7.5 percent and banks' cash reserve requirements by 100 basis points to 5.5 percent.

"The global financial turmoil has had knock-on effects on our financial markets; this has reinforced the importance of focusing on preserving financial stability," the bank said.

Policymakers around the world have slashed interest rates in recent weeks and injected huge amounts into their banking systems to try to combat the spillover effects of the global crisis, which is causing credit markets to freeze up and threatens to plunge the world economy into recession.

Britain's Brown, speaking as he set out to visit the Gulf, said Saudi Arabia and other oil-producing Gulf states, could contribute funds to the International Monetary Fund or other entities to ease the crisis.

"Their interest is in a stable energy price, not in the massive volatility we have seen where oil prices have shot up and then come down again. Their interest too is in a well-functioning global economy," Brown told Sky News.

His tour precedes a global summit in Washington on Nov. 15 which will seek to reform the international financial system.

Russia meanwhile placed 170 billion roubles ($6.41 billion) from its National Wealth Fund with state bank VEB as part of a plan which will allow for state purchases of shares and corporate bonds.

The state share purchases have already had a positive impact on Moscow's bourses, helping to put them on track for the best week on record with gains of nearly 50 percent.

SWISS CONCERNS

The Swiss National Bank said it was growing more concerned over the state of the Swiss economy.

"The situation has noticeably worsened because the financial crisis is clearly affecting the real economy." SNB Chairman Jean-Pierre Roth said in a newspaper interview.

"We have two elements which are not pointing in the right direction -- the nominal development in the franc and the three-month LIBOR rate, which is above our target," Roth told the Neue Zuercher Zeitung. "This is a big challenge for us."

The business outlook weakened in the United States, where the question of whether Republican candidate John McCain or Democrat Barack Obama would handle the economic crisis best has dominated debate before next Tuesday's presidential election.

A U.S. Commerce Department report on Friday showed consumers cut monthly spending for the first time in two years in September, evidently bracing for hard times as jobs continue to disappear and credit conditions tighten.

As another week ended in the crisis, the Bank of Japan slashed interest rates and British banking giant Barclays (nyse: BCS - news - people ) said it was raising $12 billion in capital.

But there were signs that the moves taken by central banks and others to remove blockages in the credit system were working to some extent.

U.S. stocks closed higher on Friday as investors picked up bargains following recent heavy losses. European shares reversed losses and followed Wall Street higher.

The Bank of Japan rate slash followed a cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday. The European Central Bank and the Bank of England are expected to do the same next week.

With the global economy at risk of a deep recession, many battered areas of the economy stand to suffer more damage in coming months. Other industries, though, seem poised to withstand even a severe downturn.

The health care sector should hold up especially well even in a recession, along with defense and a few other industries. Still, analysts say a unique collision of economic and political challenges means many businesses might not be as well-insulated as they were in past recessions. Here's a look at major industries that, if not exactly recession-proof, seem best able to endure the downturn:

_Health care

With an aging population and the largest health care spending in the world, the nation's medical sector could fare perhaps best of all. During economic downturns, sales of prescription drugs and medical devices tend to hold up better than nonessential goods, noted David Wyss, chief economist of Standard and Poor's.

"Generally, you're looking for things that are necessities, not luxuries," Wyss said. "People get sick and need medical care regardless of the state of the economy."

But recent earnings show that drug makers aren't immune from slumping sales that have plagued their peers in the retail and auto industries. Pfizer said last month that U.S. sales of its best-selling product, the cholesterol drug Lipitor, fell 13 percent in the last quarter as some financially struggling patients stopped filling their prescriptions.

"The typical safe harbors (for investors) have been pharmaceuticals," said analyst Steve Brozak of WBB Securities. "They're no longer safe; they're now the least bad choice."

Pfizer and Schering-Plough Corp. were able to offset weak revenue in the U.S. with higher sales abroad. But other companies, such as Merck & Co. Inc., have been less successful. Merck said recently it will cut 7,200 jobs after reporting sales declines.

Experts say pharmaceuticals are more vulnerable to economic cycles because employers have shifted more of the financial burden for care to patients, with higher copays and deductibles.

"With consumers having more cost-sharing in their benefits, you're going to see a greater effect on their health care spending right away," said Paul Ginsburg, President of the nonprofit Center for Studying Health System Change.

The lagging economy and rising unemployment have made it harder for health insurers such as UnitedHealth Group Inc. and Humana Inc. to raise prices to offset higher costs and investment losses.

Health care companies least affected are those that sell inexpensive medical products directly to hospitals, bypassing cash-strapped consumers.

Becton, Dickinson & Co. and Baxter International Inc., for example, reported sharp profit gains for the most recent quarter and boosted their full-year earnings estimates. Becton Dickinson specializes in syringes and surgical tools; Baxter sells drugs to treat blood and immune disorders.

"The products they offer aren't high-tech things," said Aaron Vaughn, an analyst with Edward Jones. "They are health care staples that people need."

A focus on lifesaving medicine is also expected to reward makers of high-priced biotechnology drugs. Genzyme Corp. and Celgene Corp., for example, have built businesses around niche drugs for life-threatening diseases. Health care investment firm Leerink Swann gives both companies an "outperform" rating, along with peers Amgen Inc., Biogen Idec Inc. and Gilead Sciences Inc.

_Defense

With the government spending hundreds of billions of dollars to fight wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, most big defense-related companies should also be able to withstand recessionary pressures.

Military spending has soared about 40 percent during the Bush administration, pushing up the stocks of General Dynamics Corp. and its competitors. The company's chief executive, Nicholas Chabraja, has pointed to General Dynamic's backlog of orders - totaling $60.5 billion at the end of the quarter - as a sign of the company's long-term strength.

Rivals such as Northrop Grumman Corp. and Lockheed Martin Corp. also have contracts that stretch decades into the future, as well as large cash reserves.

Analysts caution, though, that long-term problems loom for the sector. Both presidential candidates have called for reforms on how defense contracts are awarded, and many analysts see the government's $700 billion bailout plan as a crimp on future spending.

It seems "nearly impossible" that future military budgets "will remain unscathed by the current fiscal reality," Ronald Epstein, a Merrill Lynch analyst, wrote in a recent note.

JSA Research analyst Paul Nisbet said that even a partial withdrawal from Iraq would hurt ammunition manufacturers such as Alliant Techsystems Inc. and General Dynamics. Democratic candidate Barack Obama has also expressed skepticism about the level of spending on missile defense - a revenue generator for Raytheon Co. and Boeing Co.

By contrast, Nisbet said companies such as Boeing and Goodrich Corp. are better positioned to weather defense cuts because much of their business involves the private aviation market.

_Food and consumer staples

While health insurers and defense contractors are subject to policy changes in Washington, other sectors are more stable. Food companies such as Kraft Foods Inc. and Kellogg Co. tend to perform fairly consistently, even during tough times, which is why their stocks are holding up well, analysts say.

General Mills, maker of Cheerios and Pillsbury products, is one of the best-performing stocks in the S&P 500. Its strong brands have helped it outperform competitors for years.

As consumers begin eating at home more often, they are boosting sales at chains such as BJ's Wholesale Club Inc. that can deliver groceries at the lowest price, often at the expense of more high-end companies. Shares of Whole Foods Market Inc. have lost three-quarters of their value this year as the organic-food retailer lowered its outlook and suspended its quarterly dividend indefinitely.

At the same time, chains such as Costco Wholesale Corp. and Kroger Co. have reported rising earnings as shoppers trade down to lower-budget store brands.

_Tobacco and alcohol

Beer and cigarettes don't seem as indispensable as food and medicine, but demand for tobacco and alcohol tends to remain strong in tough economic times.

Last month, Philip Morris International Inc. and Reynolds American Inc. reported results that topped Wall Street expectations. Executives said steady sales show consumers remain loyal to tobacco products even as they cut back on other expenses.

"No business in the world is actually recession-proof, but I am convinced that our business is very recession-resilient," said Hermann Waldemer, chief financial officer of Philip Morris.

The company, which reported it had $1 billion more in cash than short-term debt in June, said it generates more than $10 billion in operating cash per year.

The beer industry has proved nearly as elastic. Its sales to retailers have risen about half a percent for the year, according to trade publication Beer Marketer's Insights. Though that's down from last year's 1.4 percent growth rate, analysts say the business is still performing relatively well.

"Vices tend to be a good place to seek shelter because people pretty much support their vices - at least the cheaper ones," said S&P's Wynn.

AP Business Writers Stephen Manning in Washington, Emily Fredix in Milwaukee and Vinnee Tong in New York contributed to this report.

Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed

It takes real guts to launch a bank in the middle of a credit crisis. Yet that's exactly what Michael Carleton is about to do.

Carleton, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Heritage Bank, located in midtown Manhattan, aims to lend to small and mid-sized businesses neglected by the larger (and now struggling) commercial banks. The typical retail bank model is based on opening hundreds of branches that cater to customers who open up $500 checking accounts while at the same time serving the needs of big companies. "Our technology and staff is optimized to deliver to clients the kind of service relationships that suit mid-sized businesses," says Carleton.

In Pictures: 31 Computer Networking Terms You Should Know

A pillar of that strategy: a nimble, customer-friendly computer network powered by Cisco (nasdaq: CSCO - news - people ), featuring: 1) a spare wi-fi network (so customers can stay plugged in while they bank); 2) an Internet-based telephone system (to save costs); and 3) a company Intranet to cut down on all those reams of paper. Indeed, networks are so critical in this business that when a bank is initially capitalized, the first so-called "at-risk" dollars go toward meeting infrastructure requirements to meet regulatory approval.

Building a bank's computer network--one robust enough to withstand the scrutiny of the feds--demands a lot more than most small business owners need or can afford. Still, in a networked world every small company needs a decent grasp on technology in order to compete.

That's why, with help from the smart folks at technology publisher O'Reilly Media, we've assembled a glossary of computer networking tech terms that every entrepreneur should know. And you don't have to be Cisco's engineering chief to fathom the implications these issues have on strategy and budgeting.

The guts of any dependable, secure computing network are the hubs, switchesand routers that propel and direct information among a series of servers and workstations. These components are lashed together using one of three standards of communication: Ethernet, wi-fi (a wireless standard) or even fiber-optic cabling (or FIoS).

Most small businesses probably need a 1U, 2U or 4U server to share files. These boxes handle e-mail, calendars and other processes. But you don't need to shell out $10,000 to buy and install them. Instead, you can opt for a "co-location" (or "colo") setup, in which you rent the crunching power of a server sitting elsewhere. Colo contracts cost a fraction of owning an exchange server--about $10 per user per month. Better yet, you don't have to deal with all the security patches, virus protection, spam filtering and the like.

Setting up a wi-fi network--simply plugging in a wireless router and ensuring users' machines are wi-fi-enabled--is the quickest and cheapest way to get an office up and running. But unless you're on an extremely tight budget (or have an unusual faith in cyber-crooks' ineptitude), wired networks work best.

Most pre-wired office spaces will likely have Cat-5 (or "megabit ethernet") cable stock. This will provide more speed than most small businesses will ever need to harness. Those seeking even faster connections, or who need to wire a space from scratch, should opt for gigabit ethernet, which can be up to 10 times faster than megabit ethernet and costs about the same to install. Fiber optics promise speeds of five to 50 times that of megabit ethernet, but they also cost a whopping $2 per foot of cable for starters.

Oddly enough, Heritage first stared with wi-fi. "It suited our small team just fine during the build-out," says Carleton. "But you can bet that a wireless network isn't something that's feasible once the paint dries."

Heritage decided to leave the wireless network up for vendors making media presentations and visiting clients wanting to check their e-mails. That network uses WPA, a security standard likely stronger than that used by your local coffee house, but not nearly strong enough to protect a bank's network.

"I don't want anyone getting onto our [internal] network," says Nicholas Schiralli, senior vice president for information technology at Heritage, who reconciled dueling computer networks throughout 11 mergers in 13 years at North Fork Bank. "We keep a completely wireless scenario so that everyone is separate and able to do his own thing."

Heritage also uses its network to make and receive phone calls. Rather than traditional phone lines, the bank uses voice over Internet Protocol (or VOIP) technology, which allows calls to travel over the Internet. VOIP reduces expenses by using one set of wires to carry voice messages and computer data.

"We're already running a Cat-5 cable to each desktop," says Schiralli. "There's definite convergence between data and telephony--it's not unheard of anymore to bundle them in a corporate environment. Because we're a new bank, we didn't have all the baggage behind us."

Savings? The VOIP system's initial set-up costs approached $200,000--about half the price of running new phone lines. An old IT hand, Schiralli knew that pricey network upgrades and maintenance are inevitable after the first year. "We didn't want to be saddled with unnecessary telephone costs, too," he says.

Then there's the company Intranet. Carleton wanted to do away with as much paper as possible--from basic wire transfer forms to company phone lists. "Our Intranet is a banking toolbox for employees,” says Carleton. "It's got telephone numbers, branch information and essentially serves as a work-flow engine for transfers and call centers." And it all happens far from prying eyes, within the company firewall.

Carleton is a 20-year veteran of the banking industry, rising through the ranks of both Republic National Bank and Signature Bank (nasdaq: SBNY - news - people ). His backers at Heritage include high net-worth individuals and a few private equity funds. The bank officially opens for business on Nov. 3; a public offering on the American Stock Exchange is in the works.

Carleton and company will have their work cut out in the financial maelstrom. One thing's certain: Tweaking their network will always be a high priority. "You need to keep an open mind and understand where you are and where you need to get to," says Schiralli. "Computer networking is a constant migration process."

AP Images

#3 Yang Huiyan

Net Worth: $2.22 billion Age: 27

Company: Country Garden Industry: Real Estate City: Foshan

REUTERS/China Daily

Real estate heiress whose father, Country Garden's chief, Yeung Kwok Keung, transferred holdings to her ahead of 2007 initial offering. Net worth plunged $14 billion in part due to company's ill-timed acquisitions during market peak.

#4 Liu Yonghao

10.29.08, 10:00 PM ET

Net Worth: $2.2 billion Age: 57

Company: New Hope Group Industry: Agriculture, Finance City: Chengdu

AP Images

Brother of Liu Yongxing (No. 1) has run New Hope Group since 1995. Fortune hurt by declining value of stake in Minsheng Banking. Acquired stake in chemical maker Hebei Baoshuo. Donated $1.5 million to earthquake victims.

#5 Zhou Chengjian & family

10.29.08, 10:00 PM ET

Net Worth: $2 billion Age: 43

Company: Metersbonwe Industry: Retailing City: Wenzhou

ImagineChina

Has created a fashion brand and retailer, Metersbonwe, for China's masses, thanks in part to savvy marketing that includes hiring pop stars as spokespeople, fashion consultants. Constantly refreshing products, launching 3,000 designs in a year. Opened first store in 1995, now has 2,200. Took company public in late August, raising $200 million, one of China's most successful public offerings of the year. Fortune includes shares held by his daughter.

#6 Zhang Jindong

10.29.08, 10:00 PM ET

Net Worth: $1.8 billion Age: 45

Company: Suning Appliances Industry: Retailing City: Nanjing

AP Images

Got start in air-conditioning wholesale market in 1990 but soon shifted to retail. His Suning Appliance, rival of Wong's Gome, now has $5.5 billion in sales and is member of Fab 50. Opened 175 stores last year. Sales, profits up, but stock fell 80% owing to worries about outlook.

#7 Robin Li

10.29.08, 10:00 PM ET

Net Worth: $1.7 billion Age: 40

Company: Baidu.com Industry: IT City: Beijing

AP Images

Entrepreneur behind Baidu.com, leading Chinese-language Internet search provider. Stock is down, despite strong performance including 91% gain in net profits in most recent quarter. Hired new chief technology officer, chief financial officer in 2008.

#8 Du Shuanghua

10.29.08, 10:00 PM ET

Net Worth: $1.6 billion Age: 43

Company: Rizhao Steel Industry: Manufacturing City: Hengshui

ImagineChina

Heads Rizhao Steel Holding, one of China's largest private steel manufacturers. Group donated $15 million for Sichuan earthquake victims.

#9 Ma Huateng

10.29.08, 10:00 PM ET

Net Worth: $1.58 billion Age: 37

Company: Tencent Industry: IT City: Shenzhen

AP Images

Runs Tencent, China's most popular provider of online chat services. Revenues up 85% in first half 2008 thanks to boost in Internet advertising ahead of Olympics and popularity of such online games as Dungeon, qq Dancer and Cross Fire.

An MP3 player so cute you'll want to name it.

I never had a pet rock, but after a few months with Samsung's S2 MP3 player, I get the appeal. Dubbed Pebble for its smooth, round shape, the gadget lends itself to impromptu games of catch and prompts contemplative gazing while nestled in the palm. It plays music brilliantly, too. The Pebble's size (1.6 inches in diameter), price and basic specs (1GB flash memory drive, no screen) put it in the same class as Apple (nasdaq: AAPL - news - people )'s iPod Shuffle. Like the Shuffle, the Pebble comes in multiple colors. Samsung added some creative details like a button that switches play modes and a built-in LED light that communicates battery life. A lariat links the player to its headphones. I think of it as a charm on a necklace.

Setup is simple. You don't even need to install the software that comes on the setup CD, but more patient owners can use it to organize playlists. In a city of iPods, the Pebble stands out. It powers me through workouts and soothes me during commutes. Soon I may be tempted to give it a pet name.