Barron's Picks And Pans: CBS, Capital One, Spirit Airlines And More

• This weekend's Barron's cover story ponders the outcome of a potential mega media merger.
• The prospects for a financial-services hybrid, an ultra-low-fare carrier and an aerospace parts distributor are also examined.
• And see which industrial giants may benefit from a coming surge in infrastructure spending.

"Will CBS Buy Viacom?" by Jack Hough makes a case that CBS Corporation CBS CEO Les Moonves likely could find huge synergies from a combination with Viacom, Inc. VIAB. In this cover story, see why Barron's believes CBS wins big with such a deal, yet with or without a deal, the company' shares still could double by 2020.

In "Capital One Financial's Savvy Plan for Growth," Lawrence C. Strauss suggests that this financial-services hybrid ought to get more respect for its card business. Its balances are up nearly 60 percent in the past six years. With diversity as a long-held strength, Barron's sees Capital One Financial Corp. COF stock returning up to 20 percent, including dividends.

Jack Willoughby's "Spirit Airlines: Cheap Airfares, Cheaper Stock" points out that Spirit Airlines Incorporated SAVE is well known as an ultralow-fare carrier that offers no amenities and famously cramped seats. However, with a new chief executive, a tweaked business model and the airline industry's latest price war coming to an end, Spirit shares could fly as much as 60 percent.

Related Link: Exclusive: Novavax CEO Responds To Recent Insider Buys

KLX Inc KLXI has hit turbulence since it was spun off from B/E Aerospace at the at the tail end of 2014, according to "KLX Shares Could Lift Off as Aerospace Sales Rebound" by David Englander. This leading distributor of aerospace parts is poised to benefit from a new aircraft-maintenance cycle, which could help lift the stock price more than 30 percent, says the article.

In Leslie P. Norton's, "Infrastructure Stocks Could Rally on Higher Spending," Jamie Cook, head of industrials equity research at CSFB, is interviewed. As both Clinton and Trump say they intend to boost infrastructure spending, Cook picks some likely industry winners, including Caterpillar Inc. CAT and Deere & Company DE. See who else made the cut and why.

Also In This Week's Barron's

• What to expect from the first Clinton-Trump debate.
• Why the Federal Reserve should raise rates slowly.
• Auto parts providers as a cheap play in autonomous vehicles.
• What is new in the upgrade of Scottrade's website.
• Shifting the costs of infrastructure from taxpayers to users.
• The tempting yields among pharmaceuticals.
• How to invest for the next hundred years.
• Whether Whole Foods Market, Inc. WFM shares look tasty.
• Some oil explorers that are shielded from commodity swings.

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