Aug. 28, 2009 (United Press International) -- An unlikely resurgence of American International Group may epitomize the new appetite for risk on Wall Street, an equity analyst at Optique Capital said.

Analyst William Fitzpatrick wondered "who would want to buy stock that's still 80 percent owned by the government?"

On the other hand, he said, "the risk appetite has returned to the marketplace."

There appears to be a willingness among investors to pounce on stock that was beaten down through the economic crisis and may be poised to return to normalcy, or at least head in that direction.

AIG, which received $180 billion in bailout funds, recently replaced Chief Executive Officer Edward Liddy with former MetLife (NYSE:MET PRA) (NYSE:MET PRB) (NYSE:MEU) (NYSE:MLG) (NYSE:MET) executive Robert Benmosche, who said he frequently talks with former AIG (NYSE:AIG) CEO Maurice Greenberg and that he wants to pay the government back as soon as possible, The New York Times reported Friday.

Is that enough to explain a 27 percent jump in share value Thursday?

AIG stocks closed at $47.84, having gone up four-fold in the past two months.

That puts the value of the company at $6.4 billion, far less than it owes the government, the Times said.