Asa Harrington writes February 2 at Seeking Alpha:

From my previous article: Greece and Portugal are stuck in a very vicious cycle. Greek and Portuguese sovereign bond yields have risen substantially making it nearly impossible for these nations to roll over the debt with yields they can pay. For Greece, rising yields have brought it to the edge of default several times.

To prevent a Greek default, the Troika (European Commission, International Monetary Fund, European Central Bank) has been sending large tranches of money to Greece to keep Greek bonds afloat and the Greek government solvent. Last year Portugal became the third EU country to ask for aid from the EU and IMF.

In June, Portugal will need to rollover 10 Billion Euros of debt and it is a dubious notion that Portugal can do this without paying extremely high yields, unless the troika again becomes the lender of last resort. When Greece went this route two years ago, massive amounts of money were needed in aid and bond buying to keep its country from default.

When I see headlines fearing the end of the world for Greek bond owners and possibly Portuguese Bond owners, I have to think, "Whose head will roll next?" In my previous article examining the future of Japan's equities, I came to the conclusion that Japanese debt is not a safe haven, but is sailing into a tsunami.

Read more: http://seekingalpha.com/article/335741-checkmate-for-japanese-sovereign-debt