The industry has already been reeling from several years of losses associated with large claims involving asbestos, workmen's compensation and terrorism.

Many industries have been reeling under the brunt of the 90's slowdown, and it is far from clear why the industry should be singled out for special treatment.

Regulators felt that the industry was still reeling from service disruptions caused by previous mergers.

With the leading supplier of polyurethane foam out of the picture, the industry reeled.

But with the industry still reeling from the effects of Black Monday, the slogan may leave investors and professionals around the country wondering just when that might be.

In the 1980's, Japan seemed unstoppable, and Silicon Valley and other industries were reeling.

"The industry is reeling from this black mark," Jose Collazo, chief executive of Infonet, a WorldCom competitor, said in an interview.

Then, as the industry reeled from the production slump of the late 1930s, Rank extended his stake in the business.

For now, that industry is reeling from a Canadian Supreme Court ruling in late April that it was illegal for Canadians to watch American satellite television.

Still, many industries here and elsewhere are reeling, perhaps none more so than textiles and apparel manufacturing, which today employ only about half the 1.5 million workers who had jobs in 1994, when Nafta went into effect.