4 Stocks Under $10 Making Big Moves Higher

DELAFIELD, Wis. (Stockpickr) -- At Stockpickr, we track daily portfolios of stocks that are the biggest percentage gainers and the biggest percentage losers.




Stocks that are making large moves like these are favorites among short-term traders because they can jump into these names and try to capture some of that massive volatility. Stocks that are making big-percentage moves either up or down are usually in play because their sector is becoming attractive or they have a major fundamental catalyst such as a recent earnings release. Sometimes stocks making big moves have been hit with an analyst upgrade or an analyst downgrade.



Read More: Warren Buffett's Top 10 Dividend Stocks





Regardless of the reason behind it, when a stock makes a large-percentage move, it is often just the start of a new major trend -- a trend that can lead to huge profits. If you time your trade correctly, combining technical indicators with fundamental trends, discipline and sound money management, you will be well on your way to investment success.




With that in mind, let's take a closer look at a several stocks under $10 that are making large moves to the upside.

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Himax Technologies

Himax Technologies (HIMX), a fabless semiconductor company, provides display imaging processing technologies to consumer electronics worldwide. This stock closed up 6.6% to $6.99 in Thursday's trading session.

Thursday's Range: $6.73-$7.05

52-Week Range: $5.57-$16.15

Thursday's Volume: 11.71 million

Three-Month Average Volume: 5.48 million

From a technical perspective, HIMX gapped up sharply higher here and broke out above some near-term overhead resistance levels at $6.80 to $6.89 with strong upside volume flows. Market players should now look for a continuation move to the upside in the short-term if HIMX manages to clear Thursday's intraday high of $7.05 with high volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in HIMX as long as it's trending above Thursday's intraday low of $6.73 or above some more near-term support at $6.40 and then once it sustains a move or close above $7.05 with volume that hits near or above 5.48 million shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then HIMX will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $7.71 to $8, or even $8.77 to $9.

Read More: 3 Stocks Spiking on Unusual Volume

OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals

OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals (OGXI), a biopharmaceutical company, develops and commercializes therapies that address treatment resistance in cancer patients. This stock closed up 8.2% to $3.16 in Thursday's trading session.

Thursday's Range: $3.05-$3.36

52-Week Range: $2.86-$14.25

Thursday's Volume: 544,000

Three-Month Average Volume: 223,003

From a technical perspective, OGXI gapped up sharply higher here with strong upside volume flows. This move briefly pushed shares of OGXI into breakout territory, since the stock flirted with some near-term overhead resistance at $3.20. Shares of OGXI tagged an intraday high of $3.36, before closing just below that level at $3.16. Market players should now look for a continuation move to the upside in the short-term if OGXI manages to take out its 50-day moving average of $3.37 with high volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in OGXI as long as it's trending above Thursday's intraday low of $3.05 and then once it sustains a move or close above $3.37 with volume that hits near or above 223,003 shares. If that move gets underway soon, then OGXI will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $3.84 to $4, or even $4.33.

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TherapeuticsMD

TherapeuticsMD (TXMD) operates as a women's health care product company. The company manufactures and distributes branded and generic prescription prenatal vitamins, as well as over-the-counter vitamins and cosmetics. This stock closed up 4.8% to $4.98 in Thursday's trading session.

Thursday's Range: $4.81-$5.09

52-Week Range: $2.03-$9.01

Thursday's Volume: 2.13 million

Three-Month Average Volume: 1.81 million

From a technical perspective, TXMD gapped up sharply higher here with strong upside volume flows. This stock has been uptrending for the last month, with shares moving higher from its low of $4.04 to its recent high of $5.23 a share. During that uptrend, shares of TXMD have been making mostly higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. That move has now pushed shares of TXMD within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade. That trade will hit if TXMD manages to take out its 200-day moving average of $5.09 to some more near-term overhead resistance at $5.23 with high volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in TXMD as long as it's trending above Thursday's intraday low of $4.81 or above its 50-day at $4.60 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 1.81 million shares. If that breakout materializes soon, then TXMD will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $5.80 to $6, or even $6.50.

Read More: 8 Stocks George Soros Is Buying

TetraLogic Pharmaceuticals

TetraLogic Pharmaceuticals (TLOG) operates as a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company in the U.S. This stock closed up 4.8% to $4.76 in Thursday's trading session.

Thursday's Range: $4.27-$5.05

52-Week Range: $3.84-$14.75

Thursday's Volume: 77,000

Three-Month Average Volume: 79,803

From a technical perspective, TLOG ripped sharply higher here with decent upside volume. This strong spike to the upside on Thursday is quickly pushing shares of TLOG within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade. That trade will hit if TLOG manages to take out its 50-day moving average of $5.08 to some more near-term overhead resistance at $5.29 with high volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in TLOG as long as it's trending above$4.50 or above Thursday's intraday low of $4.27 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 79,803 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then TLOG will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $6.22 to $6.50, or even $7.

To see more stocks that are making notable moves higher, check out the Stocks Under $10 Moving Higher portfolio on Stockpickr.

-- Written by Roberto Pedone in Delafield, Wis.

RELATED LINKS:

>>4 Stocks Breaking Out on Big Volume

>>5 Hated Stocks That Could Pop When the S&P Drops

>>4 Big Stocks on Traders' Radars

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At the time of publication, author had no positions in stocks mentioned.

Roberto Pedone, based out of Delafield, Wis., is an independent trader who focuses on technical analysis for small- and large-cap stocks, options, futures, commodities and currencies. Roberto studied international business at the Milwaukee School of Engineering, and he spent a year overseas studying business in Lubeck, Germany. His work has appeared on financial outlets including

CNBC.com and Forbes.com.

You can follow Pedone on Twitter at www.twitter.com/zerosum24 or @zerosum24.

1 Reason I Might Be Wrong About the Apple Inc. Retina MacBook Air

Source: Apple. 

Ever since Lenovo (NASDAQOTH: LNVGY  ) launched its Yoga 3 Pro convertible laptop, I have been skeptical about whether Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) would use Intel's (NASDAQ: INTC  ) Core M processor in a next-generation MacBook Air -- an idea I was initially quite fond of.

Indeed, if Apple were to use a Core M processor in its next MacBook Air, it would seemingly offer a performance regression from today's MacBook Air models utilizing 15-watt Core i5/i7 processors. The question, then, is whether Apple would accept such a performance regression in exchange for a sleeker design and fanless operation.

It's tough to believe, but not unprecedented
Apple has made it clear that it cares quite a lot about device performance. At the same time, however, the history of the MacBook Air shows the company has at times been willing to accept performance regressions in the name of battery life and/or form factor.

For example, in the "Mid 2011" MacBook Air, Apple ditched the discrete graphics chip and instead opted to use integrated graphics. This led to, in the words of AnandTech's Anand Shimpi , "a step back" in graphics performance relative to the "Late 2010" MacBook Air. It's worth noting, though, that performance elsewhere in the "Mid 2011" MacBook Airs improved upon the prior-year model.

Now, while the MacBook Air's 2011 and 2012 updates delivered massive jumps in CPU performance, the 2013 update was a bit different. CPU performance, according to AnandTech, was generally flat to slightly down relative to the prior year's model. In exchange, though, Apple brought a substantial boost in battery life.

Benefits beyond raw CPU and graphics performance
If Intel's low-power Core M processor can help Apple deliver an improved system-level experience, even if CPU/GPU performance comes down, then it wouldn't be far-fetched for a next-generation MacBook Air to use that chip family.

Intel's Kirk Skaugen has talked at length about how Core M makes a number of improvements at both the chip level and the platform level in order to drive much smaller logic boards. In this case, Apple could make a thinner design, allocate more of the system volume to the battery, and have a sufficient power budget to drive a higher resolution display.

On the bottom is the MacBook Air motherboard; on the top is a Core M motherboard. Source: Intel. 

These factors, particularly for the kinds of usage models that the MacBook Air targets, would likely far outweigh the performance decline seen in moving from the higher-power Core i5/i7 chips to the lower-power Core M. It would also drive more performance-hungry users to pay up for MacBook Pro models.

It's not clear which direction Apple will ultimately go in; fortunately, it probably won't be too much longer before the device is launched and Apple and iFixit tell us all about the innards of the device.  

Apple Watch revealed: The real winner is inside
Apple recently revealed the product of its secret-development "dream team" -- Apple Watch. The secret is out, and some early viewers are claiming its everyday impact could trump the iPod, iPhone, and the iPad. In fact, ABI Research predicts 485 million of this type of device will be sold per year. But one small company makes Apple's gadget possible. And its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early in-the-know investors. To be one of them, and see where the real money is to be made, just click here!

 

Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc. (CBST): Poised To Pop on FDA OK

An approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) usually puts a charge into the stock price of the beneficiary(s) of the thumbs up. On the other hand, the plug can be pulled and the stock price drained on a "No" from the FDA.

Any investors that's been on either side of the FDA equation understands and knows the "thrill of victory and the agony of defeat." That's why it is important for shareholders and trades to be aware of these crucial, impactful events.

Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:CBST) is slated to hear from the government agency before the end of June.

Cubist is engaged in the research, development, and commercialization of pharmaceutical products for medical needs in the acute care environment in the United States.

[Related -Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc. (CBST): All-Time Highs On The Horizon?]

The FDA has accepted the Company's New Drug Application (NDA) for its investigational antibiotic tedizolid phosphate (TR-701) with Priority Review. The FDA has assigned a Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) action date of June 20, 2014. Cubist is seeking FDA approval of tedizolid for the treatment of acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (ABSSSI).

Tedizolid phosphate is an oxazolidinone being developed for both intravenous (I.V.) and oral administration for the treatment of serious Gram-positive infections, including those caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The NDA submission is based on positive data from two global Phase 3 clinical studies of tedizolid in ABSSSI, which met the primary and secondary endpoints defined by the FDA and the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

[Related -Stock Upgrades And Downgrades: CBST, CCL, CMA, COH, OIS, SF, VFC, WCG]

Gram-positive bacteria include staphylococci ("staph"), streptococci ("strep"), pneumococci, and the bacterium responsible for diphtheria (Cornynebacterium diphtheriae) and anthrax (Bacillus anthracis).

Just from hospital alone, "Each year there are '-37.7 million admissions to acute-care hospitals in the United States; among these, =2.1 million patients (5.7%) develop nosocomial infections," according to paper titles, "Hospital-acquired infections: Diseases with increasingly limited therapies."

That's a fairly big audience for tedizolid.

The stock is positioned to pop if the street likes what it hears on June 20, 2014. As you'll see on the chart below, CBST's stock chart could be drawing a bullish, right angle triangle pattern. That when the top (resistance) is flat and the bottom is an ascending line from left to right.

If/when the stock price pierces the flat top; it usually makes a move equal to the short-side of the right angle – about $10 in this case. If things don't go right, the biotech should catch support at one of three places.

The 50-day average of $67.36 and rising or $65 or $62.50.

Overall: Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:CBST) could offer some considerable upside on a FDA approval with less downside if the support levels outlined above act as safety nets.  It's the sort of relationship that favors the bullish side of the trade. 

Civeo Gets Gutted by Oil Prices

The bear market in crude oil has claimed yet another victim.

Late Monday, Civeo (CVEO), the provider of temporary and long-term accommodation to oil projects, issued a steep profit warning and suspended its dividend payment. Tuesday, the stock cratered, falling more than 50% to $4.11.

The firm said it expects 2015 revenues between $540 million and $600 million, well below the $815 million analysts were expecting. Its first quarter revenue guidance, a range of $160 million to $175 million, also came in far short of expectations of $228 million.

The company blamed a slowdown in oil sands projects in Canada amid an environment of low oil prices for the shortfall, while also noting that low coal prices in Australia are also hurting sales.

In response, Sterne Agee analysts Stephen Gengaro and Ivan Suleiman wrote:

Civeo's near-term strategy of suspending its dividend and paying down debt is prudent and will enable the company to remain compliant with its debt covenants. Management expects 2015 capital spending of $75-85 million versus $260-280 million in 2014, including $55-60 million of maintenance. With about $250 million in cash on its balance sheet and our expectation the company is cash flow positive in 2015 even with depressed expectations, the company should be able to lower its debt levels to $450-500 million.

Civeo's share price was already under severe pressure before the profit warning. The shares hit a previous 52-week low of $6.81 on Dec. 17, a fall of more than 75% since it hit a high in June following its spinoff from Oil States International (OIS).

Move Over, Wall Street: Silicon Valley Is Invading Your Turf

McIek/Shutterstock If you ask most people where the greatest threat to Wall Street's nearly 100-year dominance as the world's leading financial center would come from, places like London, Zurich, Tokyo or even Beijing might be suggested. But more and more, it looks as if the threat to Manhattan's financial crown will come from right here in the USA. Silicon Valley appears to have Wall Street in its sights, aggressively funding a new generation of tech startups whose goal is to disrupt the financial services industry and attack Wall Street with a strategy and an attitude they have never faced before. These new fin-tech companies are younger, more flexible and -- with deep-pocketed venture capital firms backing them -- less concerned about reaching financial profitability in the near term. Unlike most venerable Wall Street companies, they are private entities that don't have to please the stock market with share prices or quarterly earnings nor support an infrastructure top-heavy with partners, associates, directors and VPs that would make Gordon Gekko cringe. Crowdsourced Earnings Estimates Estimize is an example of this new type of company that is putting Wall Street on notice. Founded in 2011 by former quantitative hedge fund analyst Leigh Drogen, Estimize crowdsources company earnings estimates on an open and transparent platform -- the opposite of the opaque proprietary model big Wall Street firms use -- and then makes those numbers available to the public for free. According to multiple peer-reviewed research papers, the Estimize approach provides more representative data for earnings, which come from more than 4,000 analysts who contribute to their web-based platform. The company says this translates to earnings estimates that have proven 69 percent more accurate than traditional Wall Street analysts. Drogen says the last figure "shows that our philosophies are winning against the stale old philosophies regarding sharing of data within the financial community." "I want Estimize to lead the change in how the financial community shares information and points the spotlight on certain individuals based on a meritocracy." Major players in the financial research industry already recognize that change, including Bloomberg, which offers Estimize earnings estimates through its platform. Zero Commission Stock Trades In the brokerage space, Robinhood, which is backed by Marc Andreessen and Google Ventures, is bringing the stock market version of the Holy Grail to investors -- zero commission stock trades. With its mobile-only platform, Robinhood allows customers to trade any amount of shares, as often as they like, for no fee. According to co-founder Vladimir Tenev, Robinhood's model doesn't depend on commissions for profitability, which should cause traditional brokers to quake in their boots. Instead Robinhood charges other companies to build upon its platform. This means that a consumer could use a third-party mobile app like Twitter, StockTwits or Yahoo Finance and trade stocks seamlessly via Robinhood for free. What should particularly worry Wall Street is that companies like Estimize and Robinhood don't think in traditional terms on a number of issues. For example, the first 11 hires at Robinhood were not financial advisers or brokers, but programmers, because it views itself not as a financial company, but a tech company. This philosophy also informs the way they market their product -- forgoing a brick and mortar presence or Superbowl adds -- to reach their target audience. With just a website, a social media campaign and the buzz from tech media, Robinhood has had more than a quarter of a million people sign up for brokerage accounts. Follow the Job Market A key reason that tech firms are competing in the financial sector is that the 2008 crisis cut jobs on Wall Street, causing many new highly skilled college graduates to look elsewhere for employment. One example of this comes from a recent survey by Harvard's newspaper. The Crimson found that only 31 percent of graduates were planning to pursue jobs in the financial sector, down from 2007, when the number was 47 percent. The macro trend also bodes well for tech, as Moody's Analytics predicts that 450,000 new workers will be hired in the high-tech industry by 2015, compared to only 230,000 for finance. It would be premature to count Wall Street out quite yet. Financial companies have faced wars, recessions, populist politicians, regulatory reforms and Occupy Wall Street, and have come out more profitable than ever. But the emphasis on product before profit, and the speed in which they can build and adapt their products to consumer needs, may give fin-tech companies the edge they need to dethrone the wolves of Wall Street.

Prospecting for Tech Gains

Rob DeFrancesco, editor of Tech-Stock Prospector, reviews his portfolio and highlights several leading technology stocks that recently reported both strong quarterly earnings and guidance.

Steve Halpern: Joining us today is technology sector expert, Rob DeFrancisco, editor of the Tech-Stock Prospector Newsletter. How are you doing today, Rob?

Rob DeFrancesco: Hi, Steve. Doing well, thanks. How about yourself?

Steve Halpern: Very good. Now you follow the full spectrum of high-tech companies, but today we're going to focus on a group of firms that have reported strong fourth quarter earnings and have also issued strong earnings guidance, so let's begin with one of the companies you like. It's called Workday (WDAY).

Rob DeFrancesco: Yeah, it did come up. It was a strong Q4 earnings season and a lot of these names, particularly the momentum names in software, did well. Workday, which provides cloud-based human resources and financials software competes with legacy vendors like Oracle (ORCL) and SAP (SAP).

They had revenue growth of 74%, driven by subscription revenue of 86% and the stock ran up to 116. It's pulled back now to around 103. The numbers were great. Back log of over 600 million plus unearned revenue of over 400 million and they're looking for 2014 revenue growth of 54%.

Then, another name similar competes is NetSuite (N), which does something similar to Workday, in the same area, but it concentrates on some smaller companies. Workday tends to go after larger enterprises.

NetSuite had Q4 revenue growth of 37%, which is the best performance since Q4 of '08 and, actually, in 2013, was the fourth consecutive year of accelerated top line growth, 34% versus 31% in 2012. They're looking at a little slower earnings revenue growth, 30% in 2014 and that stock has also come down.

That was up to $120, back around $100. The thing is, a lot of these first quarters tend to be a seasonally slow quarters for techs so we may get more of a pullback if expectations are high going into the Q1 numbers, but we may get a better entry point for some of these stocks.

Steve Halpern: Now, you also like a company called Splunk (SPLK). Can you tell us what that company does?

Rob DeFrancesco: Splunk provides a software that analyzes machine data. It's a big data play, or Internet of things, so analyzing any type of—even something like manufacturing facilities and you can even analyze flow of elevators in buildings to see where—just basically any type of tick data where you're analyzing information for a machine.

They reported Q4 revenue of 53% growth and they now have 7,000 customers. They added record of 500 in Q4 and the revenue this year is expected to be up over 50%.

And that's another one where it went right up to around 106, back down to around 85, so that's another example of one that's pulled back but still has strong growth potential.

Steve Halpern: Okay. Next on your list is a company called ServiceNow (NOW). What's the attraction there?

Rob DeFrancesco: ServiceNow is disrupting the IT management space. They're cloud-based. They're going against legacy vendors like BMC (BMC). And ServiceNow, that's another strong revenue grower, up 50% expected for this year, 38% for next year.

Page 1 | Page 2 | Next Page The expert featured in this column, Rob DeFrancesco, may or may not own positions in any investment vehicle mentioned here. The views and opinions expressed are his or her own.

Nokia Results Slashed by Discontinued Operations

Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) reported fourth-quarter and interim full-year fiscal 2013 results from continuing operations before markets opened Thursday. Results exclude the company’s Devices & Services (handset) division, which the firm has agreed to sell to Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) for around $7.2 billion. Including the discontinued operations, however, does not help Nokia’s story much though.

For the quarter, the mobile handset maker posted adjusted diluted earnings per share (EPS) of €0.08 (about $0.11) on revenues of €3.5 billion (about $4.77 billion). In the same period a year ago, the company reported EPS of $0.08 on revenues of $10.57 billion). Fourth-quarter results compare to the Thomson Reuters consensus estimates for EPS of $0.04 and $8.62 billion in revenues. The consensus estimates do not include the handset business as a discontinued operation.

For the full year, Nokia posted EPS of €0.21 (about $0.29) on revenues of €12.7 billion (about $17.32 billion). The consensus estimate called for EPS of $0.07 on revenues of $31.16 billion.

Fourth-quarter sales in the Devices & Services division totaled €2.6 billion (about $3.55 billion) and full-year sales from discontinued operations totaled €10.7 billion (about $14.59 billion). Added to sales from continuing operations, revenues totaled $8.32 billion for the quarter and $31.91 billion for the year. Revenues fell 29% in Nokia’s handset business.

Nokia’s largest remaining business, Nokia Solutions and Networks (NSN), posted fourth-quarter revenues of €3.1 billion ($4.21 billion), down 22% from the same period a year ago and up 20% sequentially. This is what caused investors to shy away from the stock in premarket trading Thursday.

The company’s chairman/interim CEO said:

During the fourth quarter, Nokia’s continuing businesses produced a healthy underlying operating margin of 12%. While the first quarter of the year is seasonally weak for our continuing operations, we continue to expect the closing of the Microsoft transaction to significantly improve Nokia’s earnings profile.

The strength of NSN’s underlying profitability highlights just how fundamentally different the company is today, compared with two years ago when it started its restructuring and transformation program. Today, we are more focused, more innovative and more disciplined. With these fundamental elements in place, we believe NSN is well-positioned to deliver solid business performance for the year ahead.

The new Nokia will be a much smaller company, with sales in the range of $17 billion to $20 billion, compared with past sales of more than $30 billion. Profitability appears to be reasonable, but the warning about a seasonally weak first quarter will not encourage many investors to bid the stock up.

Nokia shares were down about 3.25% in premarket trading, at $7.45 in a 52-week range of $3.02 to $8.20. Thomson Reuters had a consensus analyst price target of around $7.90 before this report. Nokia’s shares have nearly doubled since the handset division’s sale to Microsoft was announced last summer.

Ask an Expert: Top trends in small business

Merry Christmas, happy holidays, Happy New Year, and all other appropriate greetings and huzzahs! It is that time of year when no one is working except your intrepid small business columnist. And it is a good thing I am because it is also the time of year when I compile my annual Top 10 Trends in Small Business list.

As usual, let me note that this is not a predictions column; I leave that to people smarter than me. No, what I want to share today (and next week) are the emerging trends, issues, and changes that can affect your business next year, or of which you should otherwise be aware.

2013 was an interesting year for sure – whether we are talking about the economy picking up steam or Obamacare losing it. 2014 is looking to be equally important.

And so, without further ado, awaaaay we go:

10. Green is the new green: Pop quiz! What organic product is poised to overtake smartphones as the fastest growing market in the country? Kale? No, I'm afraid not.

The answer is . . . pot.

2013 was a banner year for pot: 31 states had legislation introduced seeking to decriminalize it, tax it, or allow medical marijuana. Two states made it legal altogether, and the feds turned the other cheek. All of this means that, according to The Huffington Post,

Legal marijuana is among the fastest-growing markets in the United States, and it's growing at a rate poised to outpace the expansion of the global smartphone market, according to a new report obtained exclusively by The Huffington Post.

Researchers (estimated) that more than $1.43 billion worth of legal marijuana will be sold in 2013. The report also predicts that figure to grow by 64 percent, to $2.34 billion next year(emphasis added.)

If 2013 is the year that pot went mainstream, then 2014 is the year when entrepreneurs are poised to reap the rewards, if you will.

9. Say goodbye to paper. Pull up a chair kids, I want to tell you about an amazing substance that once revolutionized the world. It was called "! paper." Paper is a material upon which people would apply ink and color to make pictures and words. Its forerunner, papyrus, was used in ancient Egypt, and modern paper was invented before the time of Christ in China during the Han Dynasty.

Paper really came into its own in 1454 with the advent of the printing press and the Gutenberg Bible. Thereafter, it took over the world. Piles of it became the scourge of offices, and people even used to read newspapers on paper!

But today? Welcome to the paperless workspace. Witness the future, according to a blog by Cindy Bates, VP of SMB at Microsoft:

Have you ever noticed an airline pilot lugging a black briefcase on their way to the next flight? Those briefcases aren't filled with personal effects, but are 40-pound flight kits containing charts, maps, manuals and guides. Delta Airlines recently made a move to replace those bulky flight kits for its 11,000 pilots by giving them each an electronic flight bag in the form of a Microsoft Surface 2 tablet. The cockpit will now be a paperless workspace for Delta.

8. Say goodbye to privacy, too: Edward Snowden has become a point of contention in the Strauss house. To my youngest daughter and I, he struck a blow for individual freedom and support of the 4th Amendment (no unreasonable searches and seizures!). To my wife and other daughter, he is a rogue lawbreaker who threatens collective security.

The point is, privacy is very much on people's mind right now, and this will continue to be the case in 2014 as Congress debates what to do about the NSA. (Will they do anything? Good one! Of course not.)

But for you, heightened consumer concerns about privacy and security means that you must make all of your business' online transactions as secure and transparent as possible, and you need to communicate that.

7. Be afraid, be very afraid: Have you been hacked? Been a victim of identity theft? Has your social media account ever been compromised? If not, count yourself lucky, because y! ou probab! ly won't be for long. Cyber criminals are increasing targeting small and medium business (SMBs), because they usually lack strong security solutions due to a lack of resources and a sense of false security.

According to a recent report by the Internet security leader McAfee (a company I do some work with), most small businesses do not have any sort of security system, and nearly 60% of small businesses are never able to recover once they become a victim of a cyber attack and have to close their doors within six months.

According to Bill Rielly, senior vice president of Small & Medium Business at McAfee,

We anticipate seeing a continual increase in threats for business owners in the coming year, including threats involving the cloud, mobile devices and social platforms. We found that 88% of SMB's don't use data protection, putting both company and customer data at risk. The need for stronger security is therefore an essential component to a company's longevity and success.

6. Show me the money! Between continued low interest rates, increased economic activity, more angel investing, implementation of the JOBS Act, and crowdfunding going mainstream, there is more money flowing into small business than there has been in some time.

Next week – the Top 5!

Steve Strauss is a lawyer specializing in small business and entrepreneurship. His column appears Mondays. E-mail Steve at: sstrauss@mrallbiz.com. An archive of his columns is here. His website is TheSelfEmployed.