J.M. Smucker's (SJM) roots date back to 1897 when founder Jerome Monroe Smucker began selling apple butter from his horse-drawn wagon. Since then, Smucker has grown into a leading purveyor of numerous consumer packaged goods that can be found in an estimated 90% of U.S. households.Smucker's main product lines are coffee (32% of sales), dog food (17%), pet snacks (10%), cat food (10%), peanut butter (10%), and fruit spreads (4%). The company also sells shortening and oils, frozen foods, canned milk, flour, frosting, and baking mixes, but it has been realigning its portfolio to focus less on struggling packaged foods.

About 60% of America's coal is mined by companies that have been through bankruptcy in the past five years, according to data cited by The Wall Street Journal. Only three of the 10 largest U.S. coal producers have not declared bankruptcy during that period, demonstrating the industry's challenges (high capital intensity, secular decline in coal demand, cheap alternatives such as natural gas, etc.). Alliance Resource Partners (ARLP) is one of the few major producers that has not only remained solvent but also continued paying distributions, thanks to its solid balance sheet and low cost of production.

Occidental Petroleum (OXY) reported earnings on November 4, and beleaguered CEO Vicki Hollub kept trying to say all the right things: Oxy's investments will generate 10+% returns at $40 per barrel oilAnadarko cost synergies are on track Protecting Oxy's dividend is still the top priorityThe firm's $10 billion to $15 billion divestiture goal will be reached soonOxy set numerous new production records Management even used the word "excited" nine times on Oxy's conference call, but investors have been much less enthusiastic, sending Oxy's stock falling about 10% over the last two days. (For the sake of comparison, Exxon and Chevron combined to state they were "excited" just once on their latest earnings calls.)

AT&T (T) reported third-quarter results on Monday and provided a three-year capital allocation framework for its business. The company continues making progress paying down debt, underlying business fundamentals remain solid, and management plans to allocate capital more conservatively going forward, including a commitment to avoid big acquisitions. As a result of the firm's improving risk profile, we are upgrading AT&T's Dividend Safety Score to Safe from BorderlineSafe. AT&T investors have faced their fair share of uncertainty in recent years. The firm's major acquisitions of DirecTV in 2015 and Time Warner in 2018 left AT&T with an elevated leverage profile, a debatable growth strategy, and little margin for error.