Stocks have been on a roller-coaster ride this morning as investors wait nervously to see if American International Group Inc. will stay afloat and whether Federal Reserve policy-makers will cut interest rates at their meeting today.

Yesterday, the Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 500 points after Lehman Bros. Holdings Inc. filed for bankruptcy, Bank of America Corp. announced that it would acquire Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. for about $50 billion and AIG said it needed capital within 48 to 72 hours to continue operations.

AIG stock plummeted 61 percent yesterday as analysts cut ratings and the company continued to look for $70 billion to $75 billion in loans to stay afloat, Bloomberg reported. According to people familiar with the situation, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. are helping put together a deal that would replenish AIG’s capital, but the deal is not finalized.

As of 9:45 this morning, AIG shares had fallen another 33 percent to $3.20. The company’s market value has shrunk 93 percent since its peak of nearly $190 billion at the end of 2006, when it ranked among the five biggest financial companies in the world.

The Fed has urged AIG to seek private capital and not to expect a loan from the central bank. The state of New York gave AIG permission to access $20 billion of capital in its subsidiaries to free up liquidity, but as of this morning, AIG had not used this authority.

Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs reported yesterday that its profits dropped 70 percent to $845 million, or $1.81 per share, in its third fiscal quarter, which ended Aug. 29, compared with $2.85 billion, or $6.13 per share, in the year-ago period, CNN Money reported. Net revenues were down more than 50 percent to $6.04 billion as investment-banking activity came to a near standstill.

Due to Lehman Bros.’ bankruptcy, Wells Fargo & Co. announced yesterday that it would take a non-cash impairment charge on its third-quarter earnings. It has nearly $200 million invested in notes and preferred securities issued by Lehman, which are trading at around 25 to 30 cents on the dollar and less than 1 percent of par value respectively. As of Sept. 12, Wells Fargo estimates it has about $50 million of unsecured counter-party exposure to Lehman, but no direct lending exposure.

ING Groep NV said Lehman Bros.’ total direct impact on its profits is estimated to be around 100 million euros on a pre-tax basis, with gross lending and bond exposure of approximately 200 million euros. It estimates an impact of around 60 million euros based on current market prices.

Aviva plc announced today that it has a total debt exposure of 270 million pounds to Lehman, most of which is senior debt, but also includes money market exposure and a small amount of credit default swaps exposure. It expects the total loss from its holdings in Lehman’s debt to be substantially lower than its total face value exposure.

Federal Reserve policy-makers expected to cut interest rates when they meet this morning after the dollar rate soared 333 basis points overnight to 6.44 percent this morning, causing the cost of borrowing in dollars to more than double. Financial market upheaval could make it more difficult for consumers and companies to borrow money, further depressing consumer spending in upcoming months.

The Federal Open Market Committee is expected to announce a decision at about 1:15 p.m. Iowa time in Washington, D.C.