News reached us last weekend of an incredible message-in-the-bottle story. Turns out a woman strolling a beach in Western Australia found a bottle that, it was later discovered, had been tossed overboard from a German merchant ship in 1886.

Further research by a museum curator revealed that a Captain O. Dieckmann of the Paula had recorded the event in his logbook on June 12 of that year. When the bottle was opened, a note rolled with twine fell out. The note read “Is cov-lite still around?”

Actually that last bit is pure fantasy. What’s not fantasy is how the US economy keeps motoring along. Latest evidence was Friday’s job report. In it was good news for everyone. Not only did it show 313,000 new jobs for the month of February, but it came at very little cost in terms of wages. The latter rose only 2.6% from a year ago.

Public equities loved the news, as the Dow jumped 440 points and the S&P was up 47.60. Bond investors applauded as well; Treasury yields were higher – up to almost 2.9% for the ten-year. Analysts said the modest wage growth signaled inflation was still mostly tamed, leading many to suggest the Fed would be cautious with rate hikes.

What’s the message to credit investors?