Axios

Puerto Rico was the poorest and most struggling part of America even before Hurricane Maria hit in September 2017. Its bonds had been in default for over a year, and were trading at around 60 cents on the dollar before the hurricane knocked them down to a low of less than 23 cents in December 2017.

Today, those bonds are back to their pre-hurricane levels, and Puerto Rican debt has proven to be 2018's top bond investment.

In the final two weeks leading up to the 2018 midterm elections, Democrats are projected to spend $143 million on television advertising in House races, while Republicans will spend $86 million, according to a Democratic analysis reported in the New York Times.

Why it matters: Per the Times' Jonathan Martin and Alexi Burns, "much of the Republican spending is aimed less at securing a majority than at limiting the breadth of a Democratic takeover as the field of competition grows well beyond 40 seats."

Much of the attention this week in tech was on the litany of quarterly earnings reports, but there's still news in the cryptocurrency and blockchain technology world to watch.

Catch up quick: An investigation into the industry's media pay-to-play; a judge dismissed an initial lawsuit against Coinbase over Bitcoin Cash listing; and the SEC's newest commissioner recently met with groups behind the Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) proposal.

Americans are spendings less and less money in brick-and-mortar stores during the run-up to the holidays, shunning the crazy lines they once formed outside big-box stores on Black Friday.

The big picture: Shoppers plan to spend 57% of their budgets online but just 36% in physical stores, per a new Deloitte survey. Just 44% of shoppers say they will shop on Black Friday as much as in past holiday seasons, while 53% say they will rely on Cyber Monday as much as they have in the past.

The media and advertising industries are anxiously awaiting driverless cars because they'll create more opportunities for people to view media content and advertising.

The bigger picture: With a finite amount of time in a day, the media industry is doing whatever it can to capture and monetize more of your attention. Driverless cars are supposed to free up hours for people who were previously spending their time behind the wheel.