Retirement Strategy: This Is Not A Dip, This Is What We Have Been Waiting For (Part 25)

By Simon Johnson The big question of the week in Europe is deceptively simple – will any countries that share the euro as their currency default on their government or bank debts in the foreseeable future?  The answer to this question determines how you regard bonds from countries such as Portugal, Spain, Italy, and Belgium.

By Regarded Solutions:At the time I write this article, France has elected a Socialist and all the indexes are showing a sharply lower open for our markets come Monday morning. I believe this could be the capitulation that we have been waiting for to deploy our cash reserves.

It's been crystal clear for weeks, if not much longer, that Germany has been actively seeking to persuade Greece to abandon the Euro. Confirmation came on February 7 with Merkel's Official Denial "I will have no part in forcing Greece out of the euro"; Schäuble Starts Salami Tactics on German Participation, Calls for Vote .

France has encouraged Spain to apply for aid as soon as possible. In Germany, Wolfgang Schäuble wants anything but a timely application. Note that unless a country requests a bailout, and agrees to terms set by the IMF (something Spain does not want to do), the entire OMT plan of Draghi is useless. Finally, at the latest EU finance meeting on Saturday, battles between eurozone and non-eurozone countries erupted over the banking union.

By Regarded Solutions:One of the really neat benefits to building a solid portfolio of core stocks for any future plans you have, is that while you are building and growing, you can also generate even more cash to use to build your portfolio faster and stronger.The beginners portfolio we have been working with is as follows:

By Regarded Solutions:This past week we have seen a bit of the pullback we have been waiting for. Moving ahead into this week, we face a weaker jobs number than expected and some headwinds from our favorite soap opera, the eurozone.

By Regarded Solutions:In my previous article in this series (review part 2 here), I outlined 6 stocks that, when purchased on November 23, 2011 or added to existing positions, could enhance our retirement portfolio through additional shares at lower prices by buying on the dips. We could also tweak our yields a bit with these additional shares as well.

The ECB stepped into the fray once again today but the the results of the Spanish debt auction today speak for themselves. The rate on 10-year bonds is close to touching the 7% mark. The BBC reports on the "Dreadful Result" The Spanish government sold 3.56bn euros (£3.04bn; $4.79bn) worth of bonds out of a maximum target of 4bn euros. The auction attracted bids worth 1.5 times the securities offered. The so-called bid-to-cover ratio was down from 1.8 in October.