Wall Street loves a good story, although it tends to focus on a single issue without taking the time to see the full picture of a company. That's likely what is happening with industrial giant 3M (NYSE: MMM) these days, as its legal and regulatory woes are getting a lot of attention. Granted, these are sizable issues, but they obscure the company's still-decent underlying results. Let me explain.

3M recently pushed a division that makes earplugs into bankruptcy. The hope is that this move will help it limit the costs of product liability litigation the company faces over the earplugs and their use by the U.S. military. Before it's all done, the litigation is likely to cost billions of dollars. As part of the bankruptcy, 3M has already put aside $1 billion to help pay any potential claims. While the hope is that this move will help shield the parent company from further legal liability, it is far from clear at this point if the effort will pan out as hoped.

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Source Fool.com