Booking Holdings (NASDAQ:BKNG) shares were up marginally as management gave cautious guidance regarding hotel bookings growth, particularly in Brexit-affected regions of Europe. While this is not the first macroeconomic headwind the Company has faced, Booking Holdings is much larger than in previous periods of economic disruption. However, we expect the Company’s value proposition of matching travel supply with travel demand should hold up well in this period of macro-economic volatility. Charles Schwab logged nominal performance for the quarter, worthy of most markets, just not the first quarter of 2019. That said, we trimmed our weightings in the Company as the Federal Reserve made a significant about-face in monetary policy that tempered our expectations for earnings growth over the next few years.
From David Rolfe (Trades, Portfolio)'s first-quarter 2019 Wedgewood Partners client letter.
