"But we know that this is a cyclical industry and anything can happen."

That historically cyclical industry, with sales of nearly $30 billion a year, has three major components, and they rarely perform well together.

Among the basic rules: Debt is dangerous for companies in highly cyclical industries.

But it did so most sharply in the cyclical industries, where little of the takeover fun was happening.

They are usually 7 to 10 percent of operating revenues, or even higher in a bad year for the cyclical industry.

They also review companies in cyclical industries like commodities, energy and chemicals.

At another point, he said the slump was a result of "a highly cyclical and oversupplied industry."

Telecommunications is not a heavily cyclical industry, if at all.

The problem with this cyclical industry is that its fortunes always upset someone.

So why wouldn't the good times keep rolling, at least until the cyclical industry entered another down cycle?