Gold: Trading now at $1,524 per ounce, up 0.6% from Monday. Dow Jones industrial average: Trading now at 12,363.10, down 0.2% from Monday.

Pricing AIG. The government is set to sell a big chunk of its shares in American International Group on Tuesday. The sale comes at an inopportune moment in the markets, and it is unclear if the price the government gets will make its investment profitable.

N.Y. probe widens. New York's attorney general is adding JPMorgan and UBS to the list of banks whose mortgage securitization deals he is probing.

Crisis acting. As the television take on the book "Too Big to Fail" comes to HBO, the actors discuss how they got into the heads of characters such as Hank Paulson and Ben Bernanke.

-- Nathaniel Popper in New York

Photo credit: Stan Honda / Getty Images

Gold: Trading now at $1,509 per ounce, down 0.5% from Tuesday. Dow Jones industrial average: Trading now at 12,691.80, down 0.5% from Tuesday.

Raj guilty. A jury found Raj Rajaratnam guilty on all charges after one of the most high-profile insider trading cases in recent history. 

Hedging bets in Vegas. As one hedge fund magnate awaits sentincing, most of the rest of the hedge fund world is gathering in Las Vegas for a conference at which George W. Bush will make a rare appearance.

Magnates go Gaga. Those remnants of the hedge fund world that did not go to Las Vegas were at a fund-raising dinner in New York where Lady Gaga made an appearance inside an enormous egg.

The AIG exit. The government is planning to exit a big part of its stake in American International Group, but with the stock price falling will taxpayers be able to exit with a profit?

-- Nathaniel Popper

Credit: Getty Images/Spencer Platt

Gold: Trading now at $1,535 per ounce, up 1.2% from Wednesday. Dow Jones industrial average: Trading now at 12704.50, up 0.1% from Wednesday.

Bad news. Data released this morning show that the U.S. economy is growing more slowly than expected, and the number of new unemployment claims unexpectedly jumped. 

Of two minds. The mixed economic signals coming after a time of sustained growth are giving support to the old maxim to sell in May and go away. This comes just as one of the most reliable bears in the markets turns bullish.

AIG on the offensive. After taking blame for the financial crisis, American International Group is suing banks and blaming them for the insurers' losses during the crisis.

-- Nathaniel Popper

Photo: Justin Lane / EPA

  The Treasury Department has recovered 70% of the money distributed under the $700-billion bailout fund after American International Group paid back $6.9 billion of the money it owed.

AIG made the repayment Tuesday after selling its holdings in MetLife last week. About $59 billion in Troubled Asset Relief Program money still is invested in AIG.

AIG received about $125 billion in a complex, multi-step bailout from the Treasury and Federal Reserve starting in the fall of 2008. The government owns 92% of AIG after a stock-conversion deal completed in January that was part of an effort to recapitalize the insurance company and unwind the federal stake.

The Fed has about $39 billion invested in AIG. The Congressional Budget Office estimated in November that the government would lose $14 billion on the AIG bailout. But after the stock-conversion deal and a rise in AIG's stock price, the Fed and the Treasury Department have said they did not expect to lose any money.

AIG's repayment brings to $287 billion the total TARP money recovered, the Treasury Department said. Although Congress put $700 billion into the fund, the department disbursed only $411 billion.

“We’re optimistic that as we continue to wind down TARP, our temporary investments in private companies will ultimately result in little or no cost to taxpayers taken as a whole,” said Tim Massad, the Treasury official who oversees TARP.

The Congressional Budget Office estimated in November that TARP would lose $25 billion. The White House has estimated a $48-billion loss. But with potential profit from the AIG stock, which will be sold over time, the projected loss drops to $28 billion.

For taxpayers to break even on the 1.655 billion shares of AIG common stock they now own, they would need a price of $28.72 a share. Tuesday's closing price for AIG stock was $37.31.

-- Jim Puzzanghera

 Photo: The AIG logo in New York. Credit: Associated Press.

Gold: Trading now at $1,370 per ounce, down 0.1% from Tuesday. Dow Jones industrial average: Trading now at 11,856.71, up 0.2% from Tuesday.

AIG's new banks. AIG chose the two biggest American banks and Goldman Sachs to manage its upcoming sale of stock, which will allow the insurer to exit government control. 

New rules for Wall Street. A powerful committee met Tuesday to set many of the new rules that will govern banks in the wake of the financial reform bill.

Goldman disappointment. Goldman Sachs announced that its earnings were down sharply from last year. It's not all bad, though. The firm's chief executive, Lloyd Blankfein, was one of a few chief executives invited to Wednesday's White House meeting with China's president.

JPMorgan's military problem. JPMorgan admitted that it had wrongly foreclosed on a number of members of the military and also overcharged thousands of service members for their mortgages.

--Nathaniel Popper

Credit: EPA/Justin Lane.

Bailed-out insurance giant American International Group on Friday moved closer to repaying the government for its rescue, completing a stock conversion deal with the Treasury Department that is key to unwinding the federal stake in the company.

The Treasury converted the preferred shares in AIG it received as part of the complex bailout into 1.655 billion shares of common stock, increasing the government's ownership stake to 92% from 80%. The Treasury plans to sell the shares over time to end taxpayer support of the company.

“Treasury remains optimistic that taxpayers will get back every dollar of their investment in AIG,” said Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner. Treasury now has a cash investment of about $68 billion in AIG.

The return on that investment will depend on AIG's stock price, which is up about 89% over the past year, though the price has slumped this week. The shares were off $3.23, or 5.6%, to $53.96 at about 10:50 a.m. PST. The price hit a 52-week high of $61.18 a week ago.

In November, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that the government would lose $14 billion of the $48 billion in Troubled Asset Relief Program money it gave to AIG.

AIG received federal aid commitments totaling $182 billion in a multi-step bailout engineered by the Treasury and the Federal Reserve beginning in September 2008 when the company was near failure. AIG received about $125 billion in bailout money and has been selling assets to help repay the government.

The plan to end its bailout was announced in September.

As part of the recapitalization deal that closed Friday, AIG repaid $47 billion it owed to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, including the final $21 billion of a special $85-billion credit facility extended to the company.

"Today, AIG, with the support of countless people, has accomplished a huge goal that many people once thought impossible: completely repaying the Federal Reserve Bank of New York," said AIG Chief Executive Robert H. Benmosche. "Now, we will continue to focus on strong business performance for the benefit of all of our stakeholders, including our largest shareholder, the Treasury Department."

-- Jim Puzzanghera

Photo: The AIG logo on a building in Japan. Credit: Associated Press.

The rates hotels and airlines charge business travelers are close to returning to pre-recession levels, a report by American Express Business Travel concluded Thursday.

In the latest sign that business travel is on the rebound, the report by the corporate travel arm of American Express found that domestic airfares are up 6% for the third quarter of 2010, compared to the same period last year. Domestic hotel rates are up 3% and international airfares are up 8% over the same time last year, the report said.

For example, in the third quarter of 2007, the average domestic airfare ticket was $231, according to the report. It dropped to $215 in 2009 but has rebounded to $228 in the third quarter of 2010.

The American Express study also reported that hotel rates jumped the highest over the same time last year in New York City (10%), New Orleans (5%), Washington, D.C. (5%), Las Vegas (4%) and San Francisco (4%).

Most experts say business travel spending began to plummet in  September 2008 when a subsidiary of insurance giant American International Group held a pricey retreat at the five-star St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort and Spa in Dana Point after AIG got  an $85-billion bailout from the Federal Reserve. The ensuing uproar created what has been called the "AIG effect," prompting businesses to scale back business travel spending.

-- Hugo Martin

Photo: Guests check into the Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles. Credit: Los Angeles Times

AIG exit. The board of American International Group is set to meet later Wednesday to devise a plan for the government to quickly exit its stake in the company.

Wall Street layoffs. The hedge fund firm DE Shaw is making big cuts to its operations after investors pulled out cash -- becoming only the latest Wall Street firm to announce layoffs. Morgan Stanley, which recently instituted a hiring freeze, had its earnings estimates reduced. 

Pension probe. The former New York state comptroller, Alan Hevesi, looks set to plead guilty in a corruption probe of the state pension fund that has already ensnared many officials close to Hevesi.

Lehman fallout. The chief executive of developer SunCal, which received lots of funds from Lehman Brothers, may be personally on the hook for losses at the company as Lehman seeks money for its creditors. 

-- Nathaniel Popper

AIG plots exit. Two years after the government rescued it, American International Group is making concrete plans to pay back Washington and regain its independence.

Oliver Stone's Wall Street. Oliver Stone walks a reporter through his decidedly critical view of Wall Street in advance of his second movie about the world of finance. In other movie news, Billy Crudup has signed up to play Timothy Geithner in an upcoming film about the financial crisis.

Hedge fund giants. The Financial Times lays out the hedge funds that have returned the most to investors over the course of their lifetime. George Soros tops the list, and his returns are better than the income of many Fortune 500 companies.

Big losers. A look at the companies that have lost the most value over the last decade. The Wall Street bank that is highest on the list is Citigroup.

-- Nathaniel Popper in New York

Wall Street job losses. Analyst Meredith Whitney is estimating that securities firms may cut 10% of their workforce around the world over the next year and a half as the industry consolidates after the financial crisis.

Emerging market optimism. Stock markets in emerging markets may quintuple in value over the next two decades, according to a new paper from Goldman Sachs. 

Soft landing for AIG boss. Martin Sullivan, the much-maligned chief executive of American International Group during the financial meltdown, has found a new job at Willis Group Holdings, an insurance firm. 

Everybody hurts sometimes. John Paulson, the hedge fund manager who earned billions of dollars during the financial crisis, has continued to have a difficult year, experiencing losses last month in most of his funds, except one invested in gold. 

-- Nathaniel Popper in New York

Layoffs pick up. In a bad sign for economic recovery, the number of people applying for jobless benefits climbed last week rather than falling as had been expected.

Testing AIG. American International Group is preparing for its first bond offering since it was bailed out by the government, testing how much investors have regained faith in the company. 

GM's many bankers. General Motors is enlisting nearly every big bank on Wall Street to help with its initial public offering.

Hedge fund police. California and other states may soon have to become the regulators of thousands of hedge funds, a role for which many are not entirely prepared. 

Potential $42-billion losses. Banks could lose as much as $42 billion when government agencies force them to buy back defective mortgages, according to the Fitch rating agency. 

-- Nathaniel Popper in New York