Assets: Owns 22% of Metro AG, 7% of Metro Group and vast landholdings throughout Europe and North America.

FORBES: Europe

Property-and-telecommunications group Metro Pacific is taking a beating in the Manila stock market, as is conglomerate First Pacific in Hong Kong.

CNN: SUHARTO'S KISS OF DEATH

The global figure for stocks of fish that are endangered or in a very bad shape is 20%, according to Frans Muller, chief executive of German supermarket group Metro, which he says is "by far the largest seller of fish in Europe".

BBC: Davos 2013: Iceland slams Europe over fishing policy

That could increase the Hong Kong group's stake in Metro Pacific from 70% to 92%.

CNN: ASIA ON HIS MIND

Ralph Rosenberg, head of the real-estate group, has a preference for shopping beyond major metro areas where prices have been getting quite high.

WSJ: Plots & Ploys: Hole-Sale Real Estate

Jim Cameron, chairman of a commuter group, the Connecticut Rail Commuter Council, said a Metro-North commuter alert was emailed at 3:30 a.m.

WSJ: Conn. caught short on rail line down in Feb. storm

Metro PCS, Cricket, Cincinnati Bell, and the Associated Carrier Group of regional CDMA carriers (ACG) have all mandated the Apkudo Approved process for their new Android devices, so we could be about to see a change in the quality of devices on these networks.

FORBES: How the 'Little Guy' Wireless Carriers are Battling AT&T and Verizon

Another group of big cities that may be seeing light at the end of the tunnel are some of the metro areas hit hardest by the bursting of the housing bubble.

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