Is It Safe? You Can't Get Worse Than AIG

"Is It Safe?" is a feature by TheStreet.com Ratings that looks at a company's risk-and-reward potential. Find out if your stocks are safe Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 4.

Like a car crash, American International Group(AIG Quote) has drawn onlookers, both professional and amateur, ever since its stock collapsed last year. No wonder -- its shares are almost twice as volatile as the broader stock market.

Since then, the stock has fallen further as the insurer revealed it had insufficient capital to cope with claims. The government has rushed in to provide aid, time and again, saying AIG is "too big to fail." The company, no longer the largest U.S. insurer, posted a loss of $99.3 billion last year. There was a collective sigh of relief when it lost "only" $4.4 billion in the first quarter of 2009.

AIG has been unable to sell its aircraft-leasing business and is reportedly considering how it could retain ownership. In another proposed sale, the asset-management division has lost the interest of Franklin Resources(BEN Quote), according to the Wall Street Journal, suggesting any deal may progress with other partners. Clearly nothing is going smoothly for AIG.

Two weeks ago, AIG made the call to complete a reverse split of its stock, offering one share for every 20 held. Short sellers, betting on a price decline, saw an opportunity to move into the stock. AIG is now down 56% in the past month. Over 12 months, the company's shares have plummeted 97%.

A Citigroup(C Quote) analyst suggested last week there is a possibility that there is no equity left in AIG. The stock is essentially worthless, he reckoned. AIG, unfortunately, followed up that news with the announcement that it's seeking to pay $235 million in contractually obligated bonuses.

According to SNL Financial, the volume of trading in AIG's stock checked in at 733% of regular trading last week, suggesting short sellers had been closing out their positions. Shares of the old General Motors had been acting similarly.

AIG is a volatile stock. Its beta of 1.73 may not be the highest -- Prudential's(PRU Quote) is 2.06, Hartford's(HIG Quote) is 2.23 and Lincoln Financial's(LNC Quote) is 2.30 -- but the swing in its stock price, down 28% last Thursday followed by two days with gains of 24%, is unique.