Mick Jagger love letters sell for $300,000

LONDON — Jumpin' Jack Flash! A batch of love letters written by Mick Jagger to a 1960s muse have sold at auction for 187,250 pounds ($301,472).

Sotheby's says a private collector bidding by phone on Wednesday snapped up the Rolling Stones frontman's 10 letters to singer Marsha Hunt.

Hunt is an American-born singer who was the inspiration for the Stones' 1971 hit "Brown Sugar" and bore Jagger's first child.

The letters, touching on everything from the moon landing to John Lennon and Yoko Ono, were written in 1969 from the Australian set of Jagger's film "Ned Kelly."

They had been expected to fetch between 70,000 pounds and 100,000 pounds ($113,000 and $161,000).

Sotheby's books specialist Gabriel Heaton said the letters reveal "a poetic and self-aware 25-year-old with wide-ranging intellectual and artistic interests."

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Honda recalls more than 800,000 minivans and SUVs

DETROIT — Honda is recalling more than 870,000 minivans and SUVs worldwide because they can roll away even though drivers have removed the keys from the ignition.

The recall announced Wednesday affects older-model vehicles sold mainly in the United States. They were big sellers with families because of their ample space and reputation for quality.

Here are details of the recall:

MODELS AFFECTED: 347,000 Honda Odyssey minivans and 277,000 Pilot SUVs from the 2003 and 2004 model years. Also 247,000 Acura MDX SUVs from the 2003 through 2006 period. All have automatic transmissions. More than 807,000 were sold in the U.S.

THE PROBLEM: The mechanism that locks the key in the ignition while the vehicles are in gear can wear out. When that happens, drivers of the vans and SUVs are able to remove keys without shifting into park. Some have left the vehicles, which have rolled off unexpectedly while in gear. The U.S. safety regulators began investigating the problem in October after owners filed 43 complaints with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Owners reported 16 crashes due to the problem.

INJURIES:

Two people were hurt in the crashes, according to NHTSA's database. In the most serious case, the driver reported a broken leg after being run over by a 2003 Odyssey. The driver parked the van in a sloped driveway and after leaving the Honda, the van started to roll backward. The driver tripped while trying to stop the van. "I had an open fracture of my fibula (lower leg bone) and crush injuries on my shin area," the driver reported. NHTSA does not identify drivers who file complaints.

THE FIX: Dealers will repair the ignition interlock system free of charge. Owners will get notices starting in February.

OTHER PROBLEMS: NHTSA also is investigating brake problems with the 2005 Pilot. The probe covers nearly 88,000 SUVs. The brakes can come on without drivers stepping on the pedal. There's no fix yet, but investigators are looking at problems with a computer-controlled system that stops the vehicle as fast as possible in emergency situations. Honda says it's cooperating. Investigators will determine if the problem is bad enough for Honda to recall the SUVs.

The 2003 Pilot was recalled in March because the low-beam headlights can fail.

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Indy to replace entire fleet with electric, hybrid

INDIANAPOLIS — Indianapolis wants to become the first major city to replace its entire fleet with electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles in a move the mayor says is designed to reduce U.S. reliance on foreign-produced fuels, city officials said Tuesday.

Mayor Greg Ballard signed an executive order Tuesday mandating the city to replace its current sedans with electric vehicles. The city will also work with the private sector to phase in snow plows, fire trucks and other heavy vehicles that run on compressed natural gas, and it will ask automakers to develop a plug-in hybrid police car as one doesn't yet exist.

The city hopes to complete the switch by 2025.

Ballard, a retired Marine officer, hopes that in making the switch, Indianapolis will help the country reduce its dependence on foreign oil. City spokesman Marc Lotter said the mayor considers it an issue of national security.

"The United States' current transportation energy model, driven by oil, exacts an enormous cost financially and in terms of strategic leverage," Ballard, a retired Marine Officer and Gulf War veteran, said in a statement. "Our oil dependence in some cases places the fruits of our labor into the hands of dictators united against the people of the United States."

The city fleet includes 500 non-police vehicles, and the police car switch alone has the potential to save taxpayers $10 million a year in fuel costs, the statement from the mayor's office said.

Lotter did not provide an estimate on the cost of the change. The new vehicles will be purchased as older vehicles are retired. He said the city buys about 50 non-police vehicles every year.

"We are negotiating with the automakers and several international capital fleet firms to get the best deal possible for taxpayers," Lotter said.

City officials and the U.S. Conference of Mayors have researched the issue and found that no other major U.S. city has announced it will convert its entire fleet.

"From everything we know, we are the first city in the nation to take this step," Lotter said.

The Indianapolis area already has 200 charging stations, and Lotter said the city is working with private companies to develop more.

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Stocks move higher on anticipation of Fed action

NEW YORK — Stocks are opening higher on Wall Street as investors await news on whether the Federal Reserve will announce more bond purchases to stimulate the U.S. economy.

The Dow Jones industrial average is up 40 points at 13,287 shortly after the opening bell Wednesday. The Dow has risen for the past five days.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose four points to 1,432. The Nasdaq composite rose nine points to 3,031.

The Fed is widely expected to announce a new bond-buying program to replace one that expires at the end of the year. The Fed wraps up a two-day policy meeting Wednesday.

The Fed has launched three rounds of bond purchases since the financial crisis hit in 2008. They have been credited with shoring up financial markets.

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Lilly plans another study for Alzheimer's drug

INDIANAPOLIS — Eli Lilly and Co. will launch another study of its possible Alzheimer's treatment solanezumab, a move that delays a regulatory decision on a drug that flashed potential to help patients with mild cases of the fatal, mind-robbing disease.

The Indianapolis drugmaker's shares sank Wednesday before markets opened and after it announced that it will conduct the additional, late-stage study of solanezumab in mild cases of Alzheimer's. Lilly hasn't determined details of the study but said it will start no later than next year's third quarter.

In August, Lilly said the intravenous treatment failed to slow memory decline in two late-stage studies of about 1,000 patients each. But scientists saw a statistically significant slowing when they combined trial data. Pooled results found 34 percent less mental decline in mild Alzheimer's patients compared with those on a fake treatment for 18 months.

Researchers also saw a statistically significant result when they examined a subgroup of patients with mild cases of Alzheimer's disease.

Doctors and analysts expected Lilly to conduct another study to confirm the drug's benefit before seeking approval. The additional study could provide data that helps Lilly build a better case with U.S. regulators.

But the new study will likely take at least a few years because researchers will have to measure over time a patient's rate of cognitive decline, which involves the ability remember things.

Drugmakers have tried and failed for years to develop successful treatments for the disease, and patients and doctors are anxious for something that can slow its progression.

Solanezumab binds to beta-amyloid protein, which scientists believe is a key component to sticky plaque that basically gums up the brain of a patient with Alzheimer's disease. The drug is designed to help the body remove the protein from the brain before it can form that plaque.

Current treatments like Pfizer Inc.'s Aricept try to control symptoms of the disease. Analysts have said a treatment that does more than manage symptoms such as memory loss, confusion and agitation could be worth billions of dollars in annual sales. But drugmakers first have to spend a massive amount on testing and clinical development to produce such a drug.

"When you go for the blockbuster, you have to pay for the blockbuster, either in money or time," WBB Securities analyst Steve Brozak said regarding Lilly's announcement.

More than 35 million people worldwide have dementia, a term for brain disorders that affect memory, judgment and other mental functions. Alzheimer's is the most common type. Many Alzheimer's patients typically live four to eight years after diagnosis, as the disease gradually erodes their memory and ability to think or perform simple tasks.

In the United States, 5.4 million people have Alzheimer's, which is the country's sixth-leading cause of death. The number of Alzheimer's patients in the U.S. is expected to jump to 16 million by 2050, and costs for care are expected to skyrocket.

Lilly shares fell 3.4 percent, or $1.70, to $48.90 in premarket trading. But the stock price was still up more than 15 percent since Lilly announced initial study results in August for solanezumab.

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'Dishonored' tops a diverse year in video games

The video game universe in 2012 is a study in extremes.

At one end, you have the old guard striving to produce mass-appeal blockbusters. At the other end, you have a thriving community of independent game developers scrambling to find an audience for their idiosyncratic visions. Can't we all just get along?

Turns out, we can. For while some industry leaders are worried (and not without cause) about "disruptive" trends — social-media games, free-to-play models, the switch from disc-based media to digital delivery — video games are blossoming creatively. This fall, during the height of the pre-holiday game release calendar, I found myself bouncing among games as diverse as the bombastic "Halo 4," the artsy "The Unfinished Swan" and the quick-hit trivia game "SongPop."

Some of my favorite games this year have benefited from both sides working together. The smaller studios get exposure on huge platforms like Xbox Live or the PlayStation Network. The big publishers seem more willing to invite a little quirkiness into their big-budget behemoths. Gamers win.

1. "Dishonored" (Bethesda Softworks, for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC): Arkane Studios' revenge drama combined a witty plot, crisp gameplay and an uncommonly distinctive milieu, setting a supernaturally gifted assassin loose in a gloriously decadent, steampunk-influenced city.

2. "Mass Effect 3" (Electronic Arts, for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii U, PC): No 2012 game was more ambitious than BioWare's sweeping space opera. Yes, the ending was a little bumpy, but the fearless Commander Shepard's last journey across the cosmos provided dozens of thrilling moments.

3. "The Walking Dead" (Telltale Games, for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC, iOS): This moving adaptation of Robert Kirkman's comics dodged the predictable zombie bloodbath in favor of a finely tuned character study of two survivors: Lee, an escaped convict, and Clementine, the 8-year-old girl he's committed to protect.

4. "Journey" (Thatgamecompany, for the PlayStation 3): A nameless figure trudges across a desert toward a glowing light. Simple enough, but gorgeous visuals, haunting music and the need to communicate, wordlessly, with companions you meet along the way translate into something that's almost profound.

5. "Borderlands 2" (2K Games, for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC): Gearbox Software's gleeful mash-up of first-person shooting, role-playing and loot-collecting conventions gets bigger and badder, but what stuck with me most were the often hilarious encounters with the damaged citizens of the godforsaken planet Pandora.

6. "XCOM: Enemy Unknown" (2K Games, for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC): A strategy classic returns, as the forces of Earth fight back against an extraterrestrial invasion. It's a battle of wits rather than reflexes, a stimulating change of pace from the typical alien gorefest.

7. "Fez" (Polytron, for the Xbox 360): A two-dimensional dude named Gomez finds his world has suddenly burst into a third dimension in this gem from indie developer Phil Fish. As Gomez explores, the world of "Fez" continually deepens, opening up mysteries that only the most dedicated players will be able to solve.

8. "Spec Ops: The Line" (2K Games, for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC): This harrowing tale from German studio Yager Development transplants "Apocalypse Now" to a war-torn Dubai. It's a bracing critique, not just of war but of the rah-rah jingoism of contemporary military shooters.

9. "Assassin's Creed III" (Ubisoft, for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii U, PC): A centuries-old conspiracy takes root in Colonial America in this beautifully realized, refreshingly irreverent installment of Ubisoft's alternate history franchise.

10. "ZombiU" (Ubisoft, for the Wii U): The best launch game for Nintendo's new console turns the Wii U's GamePad into an effective tool for finding and hunting down the undead.

Runners-up: "Call of Duty: Black Ops II," "Darksiders II," "Dust: An Elysian Tail," "Far Cry 3," "Halo 4," "Mark of the Ninja," "Need for Speed: Most Wanted," "Paper Mario: Sticker Star," "Papo & Yo," "The Unfinished Swan."

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Europe seeks to make progress on banking union

BRUSSELS — European finance ministers moved closer Wednesday to creating a single supervisor for banks for the 17 countries that use the euro after France and Germany patched up their differences over the issue.

For months, it seemed like an agreement this year was unlikely, but Irish Finance Minister Michael Noonan said a common position between France and Germany represented a big step toward a solution.

"On the basis of that, it looks as if there is at least the basis of an agreement there," Noonan said on the sidelines of a meeting of the European Union's 27 finance ministers. "But you know the way it works — you're never certain until the debate starts."

The continent's two biggest economies disagreed last week on the powers and setup of such a new body, which prompted Wednesday's special meeting on the eve of a summit of EU leaders. The meeting could still see a fight between the countries that use the euro and those that don't — the latter of which are worried about their diminishing power as the eurozone countries grow ever closer in light of their debt crisis.

A banking supervisor is the first step in a broader plan to have a banking union, which could improve the eurozone's ability to respond to any new future financial crisis.

One of the seeds of the current crisis was bad real estate loans, which dragged down the banking sector in large parts of Europe and threatened to derail the governments that were then forced to bail them out. However, national supervisors have often been reluctant to play tough with their banks.

A common European supervisor, proponents say, would bypass national political considerations and do what is needed to keep the continent's financial sector healthy. Shoring up the banks has been seen as an essential part of avoiding a recurrence of Europe's financial crisis.

A two-day summit of European heads of state and government starting Thursday will seek to reach agreement on the supervisor. The leaders have promised to reach a deal by the end of the year.

"I am confident that we will find a solution for banking supervision in time for Christmas," said German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble in an apparent reverse from his recent suggestions that a deal this year was unlikely.

While France had wanted to have every bank in the 17 country eurozone supervised by the European Central Bank, Germany called for a more restrictive system applying to only the biggest banks. The two also disagreed over the responsibility of the ECB in deciding supervision issues and keeping those issues strictly separate from setting monetary policy.

But in recent days, French officials have said they would accept giving the supervisor authority over banks that are beyond a certain size.

The ten European Union countries that don't use the euro will be allowed to choose to put their banks under the authority of the new supervisor; some have expressed interest in that since it would be a signal to investors that their lenders are solid.

But countries, like Sweden and Britain, that don't want to submit to the new supervisor will be fiercely defending their voices in the European Banking Authority, which sets the rules for banks across the 27 nation union, regardless of currency. Those countries fear that a united eurozone machine could outvote them in the EBA.

The single bank supervisor must be up and running before other measures can be introduced: European-wide depositors' insurance; a single method for winding down bankrupt banks; and allowing the European bailout fund to directly help banks in trouble instead of lending money only to governments.

Finance ministers from the eurozone nations will also assess early Thursday the latest Greek initiative to lighten its debt load.

On Wednesday, the Greek debt management agency said Greece will buy back €31.9 billion ($41.5 billion) of its bonds from private investors at a third of their face value, lightening its crushing debt load and meeting a key condition to receive vital rescue loans.

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Bankruptcy court OKs A123 Systems asset sale

Waltham-based lithium ion battery maker A123 Systems Inc. said it has received approval from U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware to sell its assets to Wanxiang America Corp.

The court has also granted approval for A123 to sell its government business to Navitas Systems.

A123 and Wanxiang previously agreed to terms on an asset purchase agreement through which the Chinese company would acquire substantially all of A123's assets for more than $256 million. The sale is subject to certain closing conditions, including approval from the Committee for Foreign Investment in the United States.

A123's Ann Arbor, Mich.-based government business, including all military contracts, is being acquired for $2.25 million by Navitas in a separate asset purchase agreement.

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Hub-based DraftKings to hold $250G fantasy football event

Online fantasy sports company DraftKings said today it will host a $250,000 main event on Sunday, Dec. 23 -- NFL Week 16 -- the biggest single-day open cash event in fantasy sports history.

The event allows players to use their detailed research and deep stats knowledge to potentially win a share of the big prize -- $100,000 for the first-place winner, with the top 200 finishers also winning cash, said the Boston-based company, which launched in April.

Contestants can enter the $250,000 main event directly starting this Sunday for $200. The event will have a maximum of 1,400 participants, but each contestant can have unlimited entries, the company said, adding contestants can also enter one of several DraftKings qualifying games today for as little as $1. The game structure includes a nine-player roster with a fixed salary cap.

"As the playoffs approach, season-long fantasy football becomes essentially a spectator sport for the vast majority of players. At DraftKings, your season doesn't have to be over," said company CEO Jason Robins in a statement. "The largest single-day open fantasy sports event in history is just the beginning for DraftKings. With over $50,000 in NCAA Football Bowl Game Contests coming up, and a massive NBA Championship Tournament about to launch, we're going to keep upping the ante season after season."

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Patriots-Texans draw big TV ratings

Monday Night Football's matchup between the New England Patriots [team stats] and the Houston Texans [team stats] was the Pats' third-highest rated game of the season, according to team officials.

Ratings indicate the game drew a household rating of nearly 39 in the Boston market. The Patriots trounced the Texans at Gillette Stadium 42-14.

Monday night's game was televised on ESPN and WCVB in the Boston market and the two networks combined for the rating of 39 and a share of 59. That means that 59 percent of all televisions in use in the Boston market during the game were tuned in to the Patriots.

The game is the second-highest rated Monday Night Football game in franchise history, losing out to the Patriots 45-3 win over the New York Jets [team stats] on Dec. 6, 2010.

The Patriots, who are now 10-3, will take on the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday Night Football Dec. 16.

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