Up today: Exchange stocks and nose jobs

This final note today. A couple of ’em, actually. One substantive, one a little more tongue in cheek.

First of all, the stocks to be in today on the major exchanges were exchange stocks. Seriously. There’s all kinds of talk of mergers and acquisitions. The London Stock Exchange is buying the Canadian market operator TMX. And the NYSE Euronext — that’s the New York Stock Exchange — is said to be in advanced talks about being bought by Deutsche Bourse over in Germany. NYSE shares were up 17 percent today.

Also up? Nose jobs. From the Marketplace Desk of I’m Honestly Not Making This Up, an increase in cosmetic surgery is seen as a positive economic indicator. And sure enough, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons says pent-up demand sent the number of procedures up 5 percent last year. First increase since 2007.