JJC:    If I told you that the big winner from the Verizon (VZ*)/Alltel deal was a rural wireline telephone company, with zero wireless exposure... and meager growth... would you believe me?

You'd better... because I think... a name we have not talked about on this show yet... I think that WIN is the play off the amazing Verizon (VZ*)/Alltel deal... and it's real easy to remember, because the symbol is like the stock... It's Windstream Corporation (WIN)!

WIN... which was actually formed in 2006, from the merger of Alltel's wireline business, with Valor Communications, in a deal that made Alltel a pureplay on wireless... and I think WIN could be the single-biggest beneficiary...

It wasn't talked about at all, so I think we're onto something... I didn't hear it all day...

When we get a merger like VZ* and Alltel, everyone wants to look for the next Alltel... a company that looks a lot like Alltel, that could get acquired under similar circumstances...

That's not what we do in Cramerica...

I actually like WIN as a potential buyer, rather than as a takeover target... buy, buy, buy!... a buyer of properties that VZ* is going to have to divest... to sell... wherever there's overlap with Alltel, because of the government... more points to be had... more points than a takeover...

In a month and a half, on July 17th... the restrictions on WIN, dating back from its creation in 2006, come off... and the company will be free to use stock to buy these VZ* assets, or be bought by another company...

Not one - but two - ways to win...

It you read the VZ* commentary today, it's clear that they'll have to sell some regional assets for this deal to go through... They don't like monopolies...

Now, I think WIN is the natural buyer here...

It's in a lot of places where Alltel and VZ* overlap... all over the South... parts of Nebraska and Ohio too... Remember, because WIN used to be a part of Alltel...

Until now, there haven't really been any wireless properties for sale, that haven't immediately been snapped up by VZ* or AT&T (T)... but VZ* is now the seller, and T can't buy these properties. It would never pass muster by this Justice department...

How about Qwest (Q)? Maybe they're the buyer... I think they're balance sheet's constrained...

How about Sprint (S)? Could they be the buyer?... Too many troubles right now...

WIN is in a rare, anti-Humpty Dumpty position...

They can put the pieces back together regionally, that it used to come from... the same way that Southwest Bell did it nationally with the last piece, and AT&T Wireless grafted on in the same way that I think WIN could graft... in every one of these Justice department mandated varieties...

We've seen this kind of play time and again... For example, do you remember when I recommended CHTT?... IcyHot... when the government forced JNJ to sell some product lines it bought from PFE, because of monopoly concerns?... CHTT doubled off of that... it doubled!

I think WIN is in the same position as CHTT. It can buy these assets... assets that VZ* will have no choice but to sell... and there'll be little or no scrutiny from Justice... justice served on a dish for you to eat!

This will be a game-changer for WIN... a company that, right now, people only like because of its bountiful 7.6% yield... And that's a good enough reason to own the stock while we're waiting for this big transaction to occur...

You have to understand what this company looks like now, to get a sense of how different it would be, if it had wireless business that would actually give it some growth...

WIN is what's called a rural local exchange carrier... or RLEC... It provides old-fashioned telephone services, predominantly to extremely rural parts of the United States. WIN, and other RLECs, operate in areas that are too poor to support multiple competing carriers. These companies are generally low-growth, high-yield plays... We all like them for their high yields and the fact that they will all eventually make decent takeover targets...

None of these operators can compete with the national cable or telco companies. They're all stuck in their niche rural regions... but none of the big national players are willing to make an aggressive push for any of them.

They can pay out huge dividends, because they have no need to spend billions of dollars on new infrastructure to compete nationwide. None of them are trying to do that...

Take a look at companies like Embarq Corp. (EQ), Iowa Telecommunications Services Inc. (IWA), Citizens Communications Co. (CZN), and Consolidated Communications Holdings (CNSL) for their hefty yields... WIN, we know, has a 7.6% yield. EQ has 5.7%... CZN has 8.6%... IWA has 8.4%... CNSL has 10.2%... I like those at a time when interest rates are low... I like the other rural telco plays for their yields and because they eventually will be attractive takeover targets for the national players...

But WIN now has a chance to control its own destiny and become something better... It can give itself a massive makeover involving major plastic surgery... If it buys the assets that Verizon (VZ*) will have to sell, in order to placate Justice, it will no longer be a dead-end, no-growth play on a high yield, and a possible takeover... Not exactly the kind of sexy stock you want to take to the prom... But, with a wireless component... voila!... WIN becomes a growth stock... in effect, it could turn itself into the kind of regional wireless play that everyone's looking for now, as the next Alltel...

Now, I have had the advantage of meeting WIN's CEO, Jeff Gardner recently... I liked Gardner. Gardner's a real pro-shareholder money maker who wants to win for you. I can promise he'll do what I'm suggesting right now, because I think he's smart to see what I see, and he's very, very in favor of the people who own the stock.