I understood the market neutral situation prior to your initial post which was well documented.
The point to understand is that the longs & shorts are as well balanced as they could be when you have both sides in the same industry. For example long CBA short WBC.
If the market had a dramatic fall ALF would be in a much better position than other LICs that had an entirely long only portfolio.
If Justin could hold his nerve, pick a point when he believes the market is oversold, reduce the short portfolio & take advantage of the market rebounding.
From a charting point of view I would suggest a level on the ASX200 would be 5380 although yesterday's low of 5453 was 3 points through a significant technical level. This means we may have already bottomed.
From Justin's point of view, I believe he should have already have started reducing his shorts.
ALF Price at posting:
$1.13 Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held