Businesses go through good periods and bad periods, which is just a fact of life on Wall Street. What happens in the weak periods is telling, but for more aggressive investors, the results achieved during the good times will likely be the main focus. So there are reasons why conservative investors will want to avoid Energy Transfer (NYSE: ET) and investors willing to take some risk might want to buy it.

Starting with the negatives, Energy Transfer made a business decision in 2016 that looked very much like the midstream master limited partnership (MLP) was putting its CEO's financial safety above that of its unit holders. It is a long and sordid story, but the quick version is enough to get a feel for the problem.

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Source Fool.com