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BY: TARA GRIMES

ANCHOR: ALEX HOLLEY

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Do you think 140 characters are worth $450 million? Apparently JPMorgan Chase thinks so.

According to the New York Times, the investment banking firm is seeking to buy a 10 percent stake in Twitter for $450 million. If the deal goes through, it would put the social media site’s valuation close to $4.5 billion.

The Wall Street Journal reports, right now Twitter’s only real revenue comes from paid tweets marketers can sign up for, so the deal could mean big bank for Twitter… but one Journal columnist says it could also mean a big loss for JP Morgan.

“There’s always the risk that somebody’s overpaying, hoping there’s a great full, hoping they’ll pick up the shares later. But again, the difference is there is revenue, there are earnings to capitalize in this situation, with some of the companies, again with Twitter, it’s not so clear.”

According to the Times, JPMorgan wants to invest in a company with established business models and steady revenue.

But a writer for Business Insider says Twitter doesn’t have either of those things and speculates on why JPMorgan would really invest in the company.

“Twitter may not have big, growing revenues, but its core product is one that tens of millions of people love. Many media professionals also depend on Twitter. When there is love and dependence, it's basically impossible to not make money eventually.”

But Beacon Equity Research says the frenzy has tech “bubble” written all over it. This bubble is the lure of short-term gains and commissions and turning a blind eye to what could be a bad ending.

“The way large banks are positioning themselves in companies like Twitter appears to be in complete disregard to the very real potential that these sites are nothing more than fads. Seriously, how long until the public tires of 140-character blurbs from celebrities, not to mention ordinary people?”

Others say it’s time to squash the rumors. TechCrunch chief Michael Arrington says according to his sources, JP Morgan has already been secretly buying shareholder’s stakes in the company.

“J.P. Morgan isn’t currently trying to buy Twitter shares through the secondary market… that’s because they already indirectly own 10% of Twitter.”

So far, neither Twitter nor JP Morgan has commented on the issue. According to Financial Times, JP Morgan’s Digital Growth Funds hopes to invest another third in another private Internet company like the online gaming company Zynga or the telephone provider Skype.

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