3 Top Stocks to Stuff Your Stocking

This time of year, everyone seems to be scrambling for the perfect gift. What
to get the husband or wife, what to get Mom and Dad, and what to get the kids
it's often an overwhelming chore. So the last thing you probably want to do is
try to figure out what top stocks to add to your portfolio. Well, to that I say,
bah, humbug! Now is the perfect time to be picking up bargain stocks because the
market is filled with euro zone jitters. Even though Europe remains a Scrooge to
the market, the contrarian inside me says the bold investor might benefit from a
possible year-end Santa Claus rally. Here are a few stocks that could add to
your holiday cheer: Amazon Giving great gifts is easy for me thanks to one of my
favorite holiday shopping destinations, Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN ) . The premier
online retailer continues to be a game-changer, and sales of its new Kindle Fire
e-reader are en fuego. One thing that makes AMZN shares attractive here is that
they've actually sold off about 18% during the past month. The recent decline
in the stock means it's a great time to buy this formidable online retailer at
a holiday discount. MasterCard This year, shoppers decided they've had enough
of holding back on spending, and that made the beginning of the holiday shopping
season a blockbuster. Black Friday weekend saw record spending , and in the four
days following Thanksgiving, shoppers laid down $52.4 billion. That metric was
up 16% from the $45 billion spent last year. Cyber Monday also saw record online
sales that were up 33% over last year. Now, ask yourself this: What do many of
these retail and online transactions have in common? The answer is a great many
used a credit card or debit card issued by MasterCard (NYSE: MA ) . If we
continue to see stellar holiday retail sales, it could translate into some very
big upside for MA shares. McDonald's The palatably profitable fast-food giant
tastes really good these days. The company just reported a 7.4% surge in
November same-store sales, the key measure of restaurants open at least a year.
That good news caused McDonald's (NYSE: MCD ) shares to surge to an intraday
all-time high of $98.43 on Friday, Dec. 9. If you've been a MCD shareholder
for any length of time, you know what kind of present this stock has been. And
despite the recent surge in the stock, it's not too late to pull up to the
window and order your very own holiday portfolio Happy Meal. This article
originally appeared on Traders Reserve .