In mid-September, the Federal Reserve lowered its benchmark interest rate by half-a-percentage-point. And in the coming months, the Fed is likely to continue making rate cuts in response to cooling inflation.

Contingency planning for possibility of rising inflation and interest rates will help businesses respond to changes fast and calmly—better than dithering or panicking.

The Federal Reserve's jumbo-sized rate cut in September came too late to have much of an effect on banks' third-quarter results. But lower rates are expected to have mixed results on their profits from lending.