Ben Bernanke made it pretty clear last week that the Fed intends to cut interest rates again. A poor employment report this Friday could prompt the Fed to cut rates immediately rather than waiting until the regularly scheduled March 18 meeting. I hope it doesn’t come to that, but an overtone of weakness to this week’s economic data could bring calls from Wall Street for the Fed to do something pronto. As we’ve seen, the Fed has been willing to cave to such pressure.

In addition to Friday’s employment report, tomorrow brings the ISM Services Index. That same index ignited the recession concerns a month ago when it plunged sharply, showing a contraction in the important services sector of the economy. A similarly poor reading this month would bring out the economic boo-birds calling for the monetary policy equivalent of a quarterback change … in other words, an immediate interest rate cut. Lock in your rates now if you can, because the future doesn’t look pretty for savers.