Axios

Cardlytics, an Atlanta-based marketing software company that scours personal transaction data to insert ads into online banking platforms, today raised just over $70 million in its IPO.

Why it matters: Several other companies pulled IPOs this week, due to market volatility.

There's been some speculation that the past week's stock market decline has been caused, at least in part, by worries over a government shutdown (which ultimately lasted about eight hours).

Bottom line: There is no compelling historical evidence that the markets react positively or negatively to government shutdowns. During the 18 government shutdowns since 1976 that included trading days, the markets went lower for nine and higher for nine — with an average S&P 500 change of just 0.5%.

Rob Porter's ex-wife, Jennifer Willoughby, appeared on CNN last night and NBC News' "Today" this morning to speak out against the former White House staff secretary's abusive behavior during their marriage. Porter's first ex-wife, Colbie Holderness, has yet to give a television interview, but has described her allegations to the Daily Mail and CNN.

"Nearly all the social media and online advertising companies posted strong fourth quarter earnings in the last week," writes The Information's Tom Dotan.

Why it matters: "It raises the likelihood that the reason for the tough quarter for publishers was that Twitter and Snap sucked up much of the remaining oxygen that Facebook and Google hadn’t already consumed."

"Tech workers in Austin saw the sharpest salary increases, making 7 percent more on average last year than they did the year before, according to ... Hired, a job search marketplace," Recode reports.

The bottom line: "[W]ith cost of living adjustments, Austin tech workers made the most at $202,000 per year, followed by Los Angeles and Seattle, both at $182,000."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Thursday experienced only the second 1,000 point drop in its history. It was also the second one this week.

Bottom line: U.S. economic fundamentals might be strong, but the stock market got ahead of itself and is paring back due to concerns over rising interest rates.

A federal magistrate judge ruled Thursday that delivery company Grubhub had correctly classified a Southern California driver as a contractor.

Why it matters: This is a significant ruling for so-called "gig economy" companies, whose business models rely on classifying their workers as contractors. In the last few years, drivers and workers for several companies, including Uber and Lyft, have filed lawsuits against the companies, though none have resulted in a clear conclusion.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is trading 609 points lower (as of 12:53 p.m.) as investor fears about inflation and higher interest rates continue to hammer the stock market. The big slide continues a string of volatile days for the Dow, which saw its largest daily point drop ever earlier this week.

One possible cause: U.S. Treasury notes neared multi-year highs on Thursday, signaling to some investors that more inflation should be expected down the road, per CNBC.

Go deeper: Learn more about the volatility index VIX — whose rise presaged the market's roller-coaster ride.

The New York Times brought in $1.7 billion in total revenue in 2017 — an 8% increase from 2016 — due to substantial growth in subscriptions, which now account for 60% of its revenue, the company announced.

Why it matters: With a drop in demand for physical newspapers, easy access to free news online, and the high costs of running a large media company, it's difficult for news agencies to be profitable.

Black Panther, Marvel’s new superhero movie, now rated an astonishing 99% on Rotten Tomatoes, is out Friday. It's the first mega-­budget movie — not just about superheroes, but about anyone — to have an African-American director and predominantly black cast, TIME contributor Jamil Smith writes.

Why it matters: “Those of us who are not white have considerably more trouble not only finding representation of ourselves in mass media and other arenas of public life, but also finding representation that indicates that our humanity is multi­faceted."

The New Republic's March issue includes "Capitol Offenses," a package of eight essays on sexual discrimination and harassment in D.C., across politics, policy and the media.

Why it matters: It's a deep dive into the hidden #MeToo crisis in D.C., where harassment exists in every industry and at every level of the economy.