High-yield savers will feel the Fed pinch
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"We're studying the market now and shortly we'll look at our position, but we won't dash into it. We would expect to see several cuts of the apple. It could come as early as tomorrow or we may wait. It depends on where the market goes and where the underlying asset rates are as well," Trotter says.

How low will they go?
How low will high-yield CDs and money markets go? E-Loan president Mark Lefanowicz says he expects them to end up pretty close to the federal funds target rate, which is 4.75 percent.

"We have some anomalies in the market, but when the fed funds rate was at 5.25 percent you had us at 5.25, E*Trade at 5.05 and Citi at 5.10 over time. I think the customer can expect to see something around fed funds if not slightly better than fed funds. Ultimately, I can't imagine how the Citis and the E*Trades and all of us can stay above 5 percent, based on what the Fed just did, although I can't predict what the more mortgage-related Countrywide or IndyMac will be at."

What about another cut?
It could well be that rates will have just about settled at their new level when the Fed meets again in late October. Another rate cut would, of course, start the process anew and dishearten savers.

"When things get put into motion you have to look for a trend," says Roy Guthrie, chief financial officer at Discover Financial Services. "We have a 50 basis point drop in the fed funds rate. Is there a trend here? Is 50 going to 75 or is this a one-off? A lot of what happens with rates will be determined by whether we come to a rest or whether deposit rates are continually chasing an ever-rising or ever-falling targeted institutional short-term money market rate."

Some savers, with fatter savings accounts than are necessary, may decide to deploy some of that money in the stock market in an effort to boost overall portfolio returns. But for the balance that must stay in a fixed income account for whatever reason, the "shop around" mantra remains the best advice. If you can lock up the money for a period of time, look for the highest yielding CDs and buy the longest maturity possible.

Institutions will still compete for deposits and customer relationships. One way to find some of the best yields across the nation is by visiting Bankrate's high-yield database for CDs.