by Calculated Risk on 1/11/2011 04:35:00 PM

• This is a key point from Landon Thomas at the NY Times: Foreigners Shun Europe’s Bonds, and Debt Piles Up

With its 10-year debt trading close to the historic high of 7 percent reached last week, Portugal will try Wednesday to sustain what many have come to see as nothing more than a form of bond market charades when it attempts to raise up to €1.25 billion, or $1.62 billion, in long-term financing — debt that is expected to come largely from the country’s already depleted banking system.

This has happened in other countries too (there was even story in El Mundo this morning that the Spanish government had contacted local banks about buying bonds without going through an auction process).

An excellent article about the "bond market charades".

• And from Marcus Walker and Stephen Fidler at the WSJ: EU Weighs Boosting Bailout Fund

Top civil servants from EU finance ministries discussed an overhaul of Europe's main bailout mechanism, the €440 billion ($568 billion) European Financial Stability Facility ...

Preparing for Spain?

• And from David Oakley, Lindsay Whipp and Peter Spiegel at the Financial Times: Japan pledges to buy eurozone bonds. At least there are buyers for the EFSF bonds.