The First Trust Raymond James Canadian Focus Picks Portfolio is a mutual fund that invests in securities that make up theRaymond James Canadian Focus Picks List.

Stock selection for the Fund is a bottom-up process anchored by recommendations from Raymond James Canadian Research Analysts.-continued

The Veritas Canadian Select Portfolio is a mutual fund that invests in securities that make up the V-List produced by Veritas Investment Research Corporation. The V-List is a concentrated portfolio of 12 to 25 companies chosen by the Veritas Selection Committee as the best investment opportunities drawn from Veritas’ research.

Veritas does not utilize quantitative or momentum models to select stocks. Instead, it is focused on companies that offer long-term value and capital appreciation.-continued

Following the U.S. led market recovery through the first quarter, we maintain a more cautious view of the market, entering what is historically a weak late spring period. The currently strong U.S. stock market could stall in the spring, given how much it gained through the first quarter. Technically, we cannot ignore the seasonal pattern of the past two years, in both the U.S. stock market and the economy.

There is a high probability that we could experience a seasonal correction through May-June like last year (down 7% from peak). Like last year, we believe that the positive effect of better than expected Q1 earnings in the U.S. will give way to global economic uncertainty.-continued

In the absence of any significant market-moving headlines, global equities drifted lower during the month of April on light trading volumes and no real conviction in terms of investor sentiment. Although the commencement of first quarter earnings reporting season gave market participants something to focus on, pending elections in Greece and France, along with the new-policy-stopping affect of the U.S. Presidential election kept equity markets in a bit of a holding pattern.

Mixed messages from U.S. economic data and commentary from the Federal Reserve contributed to the directionless trading activity during the month. U.S. Q1 GDP grew 2.2% on an annualized basis, down from 3.0% reported for Q4, 2011; economists had expected growth to slow to 2.5% so the slowing pace was worse than expected. The Fed’s statement supporting the decision by the FOMC-continued

Several years ago, Treasury Secretary John Snow was testifying to Congress about the federal budget. He worked for President Bush and, after a long career of opposing deficits, was trying to justify a deficit of about 3% of GDP.

Representative Barney Frank was incredulous. He asked Snow how he could now justify deficits. Frank then came up with a theory: He said Snow was opposed to deficits when the president was a Democrat, but didn’t care about them when the president was a Republican.-continued