It occurred to me while responding to a comment in my Chasing Value column that there are some basic necessities in life that we do not normally think of as such. The discussion had to do with finding those intrinsic or basic things a company (stock) produces that might reduce investor risk or help establish basic value.

Food and water clearly matter to everyone, and you could add energy, but until the economy freezes up like it has the past year, you might not appreciate the importance of credit.

The single biggest reason that car dealers say they cannot move anything off the lot is a lack of consumer credit. People have tapped out their credit cards and home equity lines, and probably their friends and family by now -- so it is all pay as you go. The going is rough and the going is slow.

The Federal Reserve has now reduced the overnight rate to nothing in an effort to get financial institutions to free up some of their capital and to lend to each other. They have also been trying to push mortgage rates down. They were successful in doing so because many lenders have offered me rates under 5% for 30-year fixed mortgages just this past week.