41.   A stronger U.S. currency helps these companies since most of their earnings come in dollars while the bulk of their fixed costs are paid out in yen.

42.   A. Normally, you think of parts companies as having less operating leverage and lower fixed costs, in part because they employ either nonunion or flexible union labor.

43.   A very small fund can be disadvantageous because there are fewer investors to bear the fixed costs of managing the fund.

44.   A weaker dollar hurts these companies because their profits are denominated in dollars and their fixed costs are paid in yen, analysts say.

45.   Adding another passenger to a given flight costs almost nothing, so any additional revenue will help cover those fixed costs.

46.   After all, the trend lets them spread a greater amount of assets over a similar base of fixed costs.

47.   Airlines always operate without much of a financial cushion because of their high fixed costs.

48.   Airlines have high fixed costs and relatively little cash to cushion them through a severe downturn in passenger demand.

49.   But mostly, he suggests, because manufacturers are now living in an environment of ever higher fixed costs and ever lower marginal costs.

50.   But these super-charged mills can bury owners with fixed costs when the market turns sour and they have to take downtime, which in turn cuts the cash flow.