Webster ($WBS) podcast mentions
So bank M&A is running at a 7-year high. In the first half of 2026 alone, we saw $15.1 billion in deals. 181 deals announced in 2025, the most since 2021. And the regulatory approval process has collapsed. The median closing period fell from 187 to 132 days. For targets between $1 billion and $25 billion, it dropped 35% from 227 days to 148. There was one acquisition, Santander's acquisition, which was a $12.3 billion acquisition of Webster Financial. That closed in just 74 days, and we're seeing almost a dozen new deals this month alone.
Luke Guerrero · InvestTalk · Gold's Big Comeback: Why the World's Largest Money Managers Are Loading Up Again · 2026-09-15Hey, it's Molly Webster hopping in here to tell you it is that time of the year when we ask for your financial support for the show. We made it through our first year without federal funding, thanks in large part to you, our listeners, and we want to keep it going. So consider consider joining The Lab, our membership program. Membership starts at just $7 per month. It comes with extra perks like sponsor-free episodes, bonus content, members-only swag. We have got a new fanny pack coming out. It's beautiful. It is made of recycled cotton. It has extra pockets, an adjustable strap. You can wear it as a fanny pack or as a chest pack. Get yourself or a friend a cool new piece of merch by going to Radiolab.org/join Or you can text LAB to 83763 to make your donation. That's LAB to 83763. Thank you. Enjoy the show.
Molly Webster · Radiolab · 23 Weeks 6 Days · 2026-09-11Hi, I'm Jonquil, and I'm from Brooklyn. And here are the staff credits. Radiolab is hosted by Lulu Miller and Latif Nasser. Soren Wheeler is our executive editor. Sarah Sandbach is our executive director. Our managing editor is Pat Walters. Dylan Keefe is our director of sound design. Our staff includes Jeremy Bloom, W. Harry Fortuna, David Gebel, Maria Paz Gutierrez, Sindhu Gnanasambandan, Matt Kielty, Mona Madgauker, Annie McEwen, Alex Neason, Sarah Qari, Natalia Ramirez, Joanna Strogatz, Anisa Veitzer, Arianne Wack, Molly Webster, and Jessica Young, with help from Gabi Santas and Maya Appleby-Malamed. Our fact-checkers are Nora Belglidia, Hilary Elkins, Rachel Gross, Diane Kelly, Emily Krieger, Natalie Middleton, and Sophie Samahy.
Speaker I · Radiolab · 23 Weeks 6 Days · 2026-09-11We were supposed to be in the golden era of mergers and acquisitions, weren't we? Client regulators, so far, have little show for it. Question is why? First, just because the federal regulators are on board, that doesn't mean the states are. 12 states' attorney general are suing to block that Paramount-Warner Brothers deal. It's not clear what would appease them, but they're holding up an $81 billion transaction, not including debt. Second, Wall Street isn't exactly lapping these deals up. When we learned that Solstice Advanced Materials was buying Element Solutions for $14.5 billion in cash and stock recently, the deal fell apart. Shareholders hated it. Solstice saw its stock crushed. 7 weeks later, they canceled the merger. Stocks came roaring— the stock came roaring back. Finally, the feds have shown no sign that they're eager to block bank deals where there could be hundreds of mergers to consolidate a very unconsolidated industry. They quickly bust the biggest deal, Santander's $12.3 billion purchase of Webster. That's terrific. Bank headquarters in Stamford, 95 branches in Connecticut, 76 in New York, and 18 in Massachusetts. This deal could increase competition in these areas. But more importantly, it was seen as the beginning of a new wave of bank mergers. So far, that hasn't happened. Of course, look, this year hasn't been a bust for M&A. It's, it's well ahead of last year, more than $1.1 trillion of transactions. But many of the biggest deals have yet to close, including next year, Dominion and Fox Group. More important, I'm not hearing anything new in the works right now. None of this would matter if interest rates were as low as they used to be. But when you get a 5.2% return for a 30-year piece of paper, it's almost risk-free. That represents serious competition in the stock market. And with the new— next data center equity deal always just a few feet away. I don't know about you. I'm growing weary of all this new stock. It's something you need to watch because, as I always say, nothing stops a bull. Like too much new stock supply and not enough spare cash to handle it. Like I said, there's always a bull market somewhere. I promise you I'll find it. Just for you here on Mad Money. I'm Jim Cramer. See you tomorrow.
Jim Cramer · Mad Money w/ Jim Cramer · 'Mad Money w/ Jim Cramer 9/8/26 · 2026-09-08It's been terrific. And a lot of the companies are quietly going up. I don't know whether it's the buybacks or not, but they've done Well, I think, you know, you have to have one, but there haven't been that many deals. I thought that after, after Webster went, after Santander bought Webster, which is the first big deal, as big, big presence in Massachusetts, big presence in New York, I thought that there would be a lot, a lot of others.
Jim Cramer · Squawk on the Street · 9am Hour: OpenAI Urges Caution, Qualcomm & Amazon Partnership, Novartis’ Drug Trial Setbacks 9/8/26 · 2026-09-08Hi, I'm Jon Quill, and I'm from Brooklyn. And here are the staff credits. Radiolab is hosted by Lulu Miller and Latif Nasser. Soren Wheeler is our executive editor. Sarah Sandbach is our executive director. Our managing editor is Pat Walters. Dylan Keefe is our director of sound design. Our staff includes Jeremy Bloom, W. Harry Fortuna, David Gebel, Maria Paz Gutierrez, Sindhu Gnanasambandan, Matt Kielty, Mona Madgawker, Annie McEwen, Alex Neason, Sarah Qari, Natalia Ramirez, Joanna Strogatz, Anisa Veetsa, Arianne Wack, Molly Webster, And Jessica Young, with help from Gabi Santas and Maya Appleby-Malamud. Our fact-checkers are Nora Belblidia, Hillary Elkins, Rachel Gross, Diane Kelly, Emily Krieger, Natalie Middleton, and Sophie Samahy.
Jon Quill · Radiolab · 60 Words · 2026-09-04