The U.S. equity market seems to be in a precarious situation. According to the January jobs report, unemployment is at a 53-year low of 3.4% (when 3.6% was expected), while wages rose by 4.4% year over year. The Consumer Price Index and Producer Price Index -- both key gauges of U.S. inflation -- also increased more than expected in January. Based on this data, the chances of the Federal Reserve pausing its interest rate hikes soon seem slim -- a major downer for the equity market.

Yet there is money to be made in the stock market by the long-term investor, especially since some fundamentally strong companies are well-positioned to face even a tough economic environment. Here's why Airbnb (NASDAQ: ABNB), Cloudflare (NYSE: NET), and DigitalOcean (NYSE: DOCN) could prove to be good buy-and-hold picks for 2023 and beyond.

Leading short-term rental provider Airbnb reported stellar fourth-quarter performance, with revenue and earnings surpassing analysts' consensus estimates. 2022 was also the company's first full year of generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) profitability -- an unusual achievement for a consumer discretionary company during a period of high inflation.

Continue reading

Source Fool.com