For 25 years, Steven Halpern, editor of TheStockAdvisors.com, has surveyed the leading financial newsletter advisors asking for their favorite stocks for the coming year. This article is one of 100+ ideas in the Best Stocks for 2008 report.

"My favorite conservative idea for 2008 is Mastercard (NYSE: MA)," says Bernie Schaeffer, editor of Schaeffer's Investment Research.

"We look for stocks with strong price action, strong fundamentals and evidence of investor skepticism, with the skepticism being an indication that there is sideline buying power that can drive the stock even higher.

"Mastercard fits this profile just about perfectly. In late October, MA reported third-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street estimates by 27%, as credit card transaction growth continued to soar. The earnings report continued a trend of positive earnings surprises, as the company beat Wall Street estimates by an average of 42% in its previous three earnings reports.

"On the heels of positive earnings momentum, the stock has appreciated five-fold since its IPO in May 2006. Amid growing fears about consumer spending and a rough year for financial-related stocks, MA has shot up 113%, trouncing the S&P 500 Index's return of 6%. Yet the company's market cap of $27.6 billion is just a fraction of that of the troubled money center banks.

"Despite a string of impressive positive earnings surprises and tremendous price momentum in the stock, there is strong brokerage upgrade potential on MA. According to Zacks, 16 analysts follow the shares. Six have 'buy' ratings, and ten have 'hold' ratings. The analyst 'buy/hold/sell' configuration leaves the door wide open for upgrades.

"Furthermore, short interest on MA is near its IPO highs and represents more than 8% of the shares' float, which creates the potential for short covering to fuel more stock gains."