Investors got a chance this week to weigh in on the government's odds of recouping the full $182 billion bailout of American International Group Inc.

The response so far: Don't count on it.

AIG shares skidded as much as 7 percent Wednesday, a day after the U.S. government sold a chunk of its stake in AIG. The stock recovered some of its losses, closing down 4 percent to $28.28. But it still trails the $28.73 average price the government needs to break even on the bailout.

By offering 200 million shares at $29 each, experts say, the government misread the market's appetite for AIG. After Wednesday's price swoon, they say, it might have to delay future offerings of AIG stock.

And taxpayers might have to give up on breaking even.

"Treasury clearly wants to get out, and at some point I think exiting is more important than hitting a target price," said Clifford Gallant, an analyst at KBW Inc.

AIG received the biggest bailout during the financial crisis because it couldn't meet its financial obligations to the world's biggest banks. AIG sold the banks insurance-like contracts to cover losses on mortgage bonds. Once the housing bubble burst and the bonds lost value, AIG couldn't pay up. If AIG failed, officials said, the banks would follow.

Since then, government and AIG officials have been working to settle AIG's obligations, sell business units and repay its bailout money.

Stocks are closing slightly lower as worries about Europe's debt crisis overshadowed a rebound in oil prices.

Oil closed above $99 per barrel Tuesday after major banks raised their forecasts for crude prices. Energy companies including Chevron Corp. and Exxon Mobil Corp. rose, but most other industries fell.

Greece's main opposition party said it opposed the government's latest attempts to reduce debt. The news further dampened hopes that Greece would repair its finances.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 25 points, or 0.2 percent, to close at 12,356. The S&P 500 index fell 1 point to 1,316. The Nasdaq fell 13, or 0.5 percent, to 2,746.

Falling shares outpaced rising ones by a small margin on the New York Stock Exchange. Trading volume was 3.5 billion shares.

A Las Vegas man who bound and gagged his girlfriend's two toddlers and left them in a garage while he went to a bar to watch a televised basketball game with friends has been sentenced to two to six years in prison.

Clark County District Court Judge James Bixler said at Tuesday's sentencing that Jonathan Weaver's actions were "stupid," and said he couldn't imagine anything more frightening for the children.

"But for a neighbor who heard them crying in the garage, they could have easily have died in there," the judge said.

Neighbors summoned police and firefighters broke into an apartment complex garage to get to the boys, ages 1 and 2. Police said they were found tied to car seats, each with a piece of clothing in his mouth.

The toddlers' mother left the boys with the 22-year-old Weaver while she was at night school, Las Vegas police said.

Weaver apologized at the sentencing hearing and the Las Vegas Sun reported that deputy public defender Amy Porray called his remorse genuine. Both told the judge that Weaver wasn't trying to hurt the boys — they said he bound them so they wouldn't hurt themselves.

Stocks fell in morning trading Thursday and bond yields hit a low for the year after disappointing reports about the U.S. jobs market and economic growth.

The Labor Department said more people applied for unemployment benefits last week, the first increase in three weeks. The number of people seeking benefits rose by 10,000 to 424,000, more than analysts were expecting.

Applications are above the 375,000 level that indicates sustainable job growth. Applications peaked at 659,000 during the recession. Employers stepped up hiring this spring, but some economists worry that rising applications indicate a slowdown in hiring.

The Commerce Department said the economy grew at a sluggish 1.8 percent in the January-March quarter as surging gasoline prices and sharp cutbacks in government spending overshadowed strong corporate earnings. Consumer spending grew at just half the rate of the previous quarter, and less than previously estimated. A surge in imports widened the U.S. trade deficit.

In early trading, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 68 points, or 0.6 percent, to 12,326. The Standard & Poor's 500 fell 5, or 0.4 percent, to 1,315. The Nasdaq composite dropped 4, or 0.1 percent, to 2,759.

The weak economic news drew investors toward safer assets, pushing the yield on the 10-year Treasury note to 3.08 percent, its lowest level this year. It was trading at 3.15 percent shortly before the economic reports came out. Bond yields fall when their prices rise.