Lately, everyone from my best friend to the French woman who cuts my hair has been asking me what I think they should do with their money.

You might think this signals that investor confidence is eroding even further -- but if anything, it tells me we might finally be approaching the end of this epic slide. You see, these are the same people who, up until about a month ago, would have much rather spent 30 minutes talking about socks than having to listen to me talk about stocks for even three minutes.

Suddenly, they're willing to give up Patriots season tickets and Caribbean vacations to get into the market -- and that shows me that people are finally starting to believe that buying stocks can build wealth again.

So, what am I telling them?
First off, that I'm no expert, and that there's no telling exactly if or where this dismal market will finally bottom out. Second, that anyone who tells them otherwise should be ignored.

And finally, that although he’s lost his title as the world's richest man, I still believe in Warren Buffett and the process that made him rich -- buying great companies when they're selling at good prices.

That's why I recommend that people who don't own any stocks take the time to research stalwarts like Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), Home Depot (NYSE: HD), and Disney (NYSE: DIS) to see whether these companies are the kind of cornerstones around which they might want to build their portfolios.

Each has a rock-solid, world-renowned brand, has already weathered severe recessions, and will be around for decades -- yet each is selling at prices we haven't seen in years.

Even better …
I'm also a big fan of companies that pay you to own them, which is why I'm recommending that these folks look into solid dividend payers such as Qwest (NYSE: Q) and Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY).

I've even gone so far as to introduce them to master limited partnerships like Kinder Morgan Energy Partners and Magellan Midstream Partners , which are paying out monster dividends and have major tax advantages over regular dividend payers.

Swinging for the fences
Of course, like me, most of the folks asking for my advice are on the younger end of the investor spectrum -- and for better or worse, they all want to know which stocks will make them rich beyond their wildest dreams.

Again, I start by telling them that I'm no expert. Then I tell them that I think they should build a solid core portfolio before venturing on to riskier investments. Finally, I drop this pearl of wisdom on them: The market's next big movers are almost certainly small companies that they've never even heard of.

At first, they usually blow me off, arguing that Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM), Apple , or some oil and gas titan like Chevron (NYSE: CVX) will surely be the next stock to blast into the stratosphere.

So I explain that while all of those are great companies -- and potentially good investments -- they would have to pack on $76 billion, $124 billion, and $134 billion in market cap, respectively, just for their shares to double! Large companies can provide safer growth, but their size also places some limits on that growth.

Then I pull up a list of the top 10 percentage gainers of the past 52 weeks …

Stock

52-Week % Gain

Market Cap

HeartWare International 

5,900%

$218 million

Diedrich Coffee

574%

$100 million

Dendreon

392%

$2.5 billion

Insmed

389%

$129 million

American Dairy

318%

$671 million

Kirkland’s

292%

$193 million

Merge Healthcare Continued...