in the luggage from England.

'Corruption never has been compulsory'

Anthony Eden

All the time that I worked with the Stones I never changed my habits, my clothes or my attitudes. I did not pretend to be overwhelmed by or to enter into discussions about their music.

I was never tempted by the rock'n'roll lifestyle. Although I enjoyed a good vintage wine, I was never a heavy drinker, nor a drug-taker. I always aimed to maintain a strict discipline backstage, for security reasons, and tried to see that the band and the entourage did not get drunk or disorderly. I felt, and still feel, that remaining true to myself stood us in good stead whenever problems arose.

The Stones had their own dressing rooms or their own caravans where, in the privacy ofU.S. dollar overnight is giving the bulls the upper hand today.' ” — Burton Schlichter, New World Trading

The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback against a basket of other major currencies, fell 1% to 71.30. See Currencies.

In economic news, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday that U.S. home builders started the fewest homes in 17 years, as housing starts plunged 11.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 947,000 in March.

March's rate was the lowest for housing starts since March 1991. Starts were down 36.5% compared with March 2007. The starts figure was much lower than expected on Wall Street, where economists were looking for a drop to 988,000 annualized units. See Economic Report.

Separately, the Labor Department reported that inflation rose in March, as energy and