Tommy can you hear me?

I don't like to give out investment advice. Mostly because it's a losing proposition either way. If the investment fails, it's my fault for recommending it. If it succeeds, the person I gave the advice to is a genius because they bought it. Generally, I just nod my head and listen quietly.

However, there is one sure-fire idea that could make you a billionaire if you are willing to wait a few years. What is it? I'm glad you asked.

Any company that manufactures or distributes hearing aids.

Every day, I see hundreds of people walking around with crap in their ears. Cell phone headsets, iPod earbuds, headphones ... everything and anything designed to keep their ears from hearing what is going on around them. I'm figuring that by the time they're 50 their hearing is going to be shot and some of you can be wealthy.

Back when I was 20 and I was going to a rock concert a week, I remember that funny feeling I had when I got home and was surrounded by silence. It's called tinnitus. A high-pitched ringing in my ears that lasted until I woke up the next morning.

I don't particularly care for headphones. Part of the charm of music is that it vibrates the air to make sound. That's what a speaker does. It doesn't vibrate my skull and use my jawbone as acoustic tile.

I enjoy peaceful solitude on occasion. It's probably why I don't mind going places alone. It's relaxing to have silence in your life. I think there are a lot of people who feel the need to have a constant soundtrack running in their head or a telephone conversation going on, as though if they're not interacting with someone they don't exist. I'm not a psychiatrist.

But there they are, earbuds in their heads and the ubiquitous player device in tow. Sometimes it's audible from the outside, so I know it's too loud on the inside. It sounds like they have a head full of bees. When they're 50 they're not going to be able to use the earbuds because they won't fit over the hearing aid.

That'll show 'em.