Disney’s Moana 2: Storms, superpowers, and the money lessons you need to learn

Moana showed up on the big screen in 2016, and the sequel was released this Friday, which meant that Disney was bringing back the magic of the ocean, the voice of ancestors and the fun moving tattoos of a demigod called Maui (I still love The Rock Dwayne Johnson).

This time Moana – the daughter of the island chief – sets out to seek places with ‘more people’ because she sings a song about ‘what does the future hold’. If you are reading between the lines, then you’ll hear me ask: If Wicked the movie can give you memorable songs, why doesn’t Moana make me want to rise up from the seat and dance in the aisles?

Coming back to the story, since Moana is setting out to go further, she has a crew – a crotchety old farmer, a beefy lad who is an artist and storyteller to record the voyage, a canoe builder, and the animal friends (Pua the pig, and HeiHei the chicken) and yes, Maui the demigod. The funniest of the sparse jokes is Maui calling the pig and the chicken ‘Bacon and eggs’. The enemy is the angry Indradev version called Nalo, who is just a purple stormcloud that’s raining thunderbolts down tornados.

What money lessons can Moana’s voyage into the storm teach us?

When you’re stepping into bear markets

Moana and her crew need to be innovative and figure out a way to ride the gigantic storm that’s aiming the thunderbolts at them. Loto, the canoe builder cum mechanic is only happy to cut down the mast and uses the sail like a parachute which helps them manoeuvre their ‘canoe’ through the storm.

As investors, you know that when there are political or policy shifts, money scandals and other reasons, the markets react adversely. Sometimes all it takes is a rumour to start a ripple effect of panic selling in the markets. And just like Moana’s adorable little sister Simea, you ask, ‘What if you don’t come back?’

There are several historic reasons why we call markets ‘Bull’ and ‘Bear’. The simplest explanation is: Look at how these two strong animals attack. The bulls cock their head to toss you up into the sky with its horns, and the bear throws you down on the ground with its paws. Hence the downturn in the market, often hurting the ordinary and even the savvy investors.

Just as Moana’s crew helps her sail through the storm, you too can stop being afraid of the bear market.

Generally speaking when the stocks begin to reach that 20% fall, it’s an indication that you’re in a Bear market. Very often, the market corrects itself, and if you informed, then you can save unnecessary losses. Most of us don’t have the bandwidth of being invested in multiple markets such as Warren Buffet or Peter Lynch, but if we are not heavily, deeply invested in stocks and can shuffle asset allocation with an eye on changes in the regulatory, political or industry policies, we can suffer fewer losses.

Why do we need Wayfinders like Moana?

Moana seems to be happy on the island home, climbing on top of the mountain, having fun with her little sister. A chance discovery of a pot with an image of a different kind of mountain with people makes her want to go out and find that island. She knows that there must be other people on other islands…

As investors, we are too content with the little money that we make with our investments. But some of us want to make our money work harder, no matter what animal the market seems to be following.

A bullish investor is like your happy optimist friend: they firmly believe that the stock prices will continue to rise, so they want to buy to benefit from the price increase. If you have an uncle who is always predicting gloom and doom, then remember, Bearish investors are like that. They believe prices will drop, so they sell. But a smart bear market investor will also buy, and then then sell, taking advantage of the change in pricing. Which is better depends on your risk tolerance, portfolio strategy, and how your investments are spread out.

Generally, avoid buying at the peak of a bullish market. Remember though that a bear market offers you a chance to buy assets at lower prices. If you need a long term view of things, know that eventually, the value of that asset will recover.

If your portfolio is protected – you have a diverse portfolio with different assets and business sectors – then you should consider buying defensive stocks, bonds or alternative assets which depend less on the fluctuations of the market. Also learn about stop-loss orders, keep a cash reserve and give yourself the flexibility when you are riding out the storm of a bear market.

Moana 2 definitely has much less charisma than the original film (which you can watch on Disney+Hotstar and even less magic than the cannot-watch-just-once Wicked the movie, but the kids will love the chicken that survives all that adventure and the funny chest thumping coconuts… Sorry, Kakamoras!

Manisha Lakhe is a poet, film critic, traveller, founder of Caferati — an online writer’s forum, hosts Mumbai’s oldest open mic, and teaches advertising, films and communication. She can be reached on Twitter at @manishalakhe.