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The market may be in freefall but plenty of indicators suggest the outlook for shares is good. Statistics show that the economy is in a quite robust state, with unemployment, inflation and interest rates at historic lows. That means relatively little when the market thinks equities are unattractive, but plenty of buying has been taking place in boardrooms, giving further room for optimism amid the stifling gloom.

Crossing the line?

One place where there may be room for cheer is financial website operator ADVFN. The company released an upbeat trading statement on 17 July saying it has been operating profitably since February. Advertising revenues have been especially buoyant in what is a bad market, while sales have more than doubled.

Although no directors have bought shares recently, chairman Michael Hodges did step in to pick up 232,558 shares in fellow Aim company On-Line, which owns 46 per cent of ADVFN. Intriguingly, Hodges bought the shares on 16 July, the day before ADVFN's statement, spurring questions about possible insider dealing. Neither the FSA, Stock Exchange or Hodges himself offered to comment.

Big buys

Elsewhere, directors have been buying in bulk as share prices flounder. Particularly sizeable buys have gone through at property group Great Portland Estates, accident management business Auto Indemnity, dental practice consolidator Integrated Dental and investment boutique Evolution.

At the latter, which is currently completing the acquisition of broker Beeson Gregory, chairman and chief executive Alex Snow and deputy chairman Richard Griffiths delved into the market to pick up 125,000 and 755,000 shares respectively at 40p.

Integrated Dental meanwhile saw chairman Matthew Allen and non-executive entrepreneur Luke Johnson jump in to buy 150,000 and 750,000 shares at 90p. They were soon followed by institutions INVESCO and Canada Life, helping the shares up to 100p.

Auto Indemnity chairman Charles Good topped up his holding to 13 per cent with a 750,000-share purchase at 27p. Richard Peskin of Great Portland purchased another 350,000 at 221.25p on the day that he outlined the company's plans and prospects at its AGM.

Tech take-up

In recent times technology stocks have been suffering from habitual market stress, but if the actions of directors are anything to go by now could be the time to invest. Pace Micro Technology has had a rotten time of late, with a series of profit warnings causing shareholders to flee for the exit. But one non-executive, Marvin Jones, saw the fall-out as the perfect time to more than double his holding with a 31,250-share purchase at 32p.

There has been a lot more activity at online intellectual property manager and host NetBenefit – a firm that reported it was approaching breakeven in its March interims. Between 28 June and 17 July no less than five directors bought 703,000 shares between them, at prices ranging from 7.5-9p. Chairman John Parcell was particularly enthusiastic, buying 400,000 to more than double his stake.

Among the tech stocks, there has also been recent director buying at Compel, Patientline, ID Data and Robotic Technology Systems – in addition to ATM machine company Ambient and recent Aim new issue Cardpoint.

Ransom outlays

But buying has been occurring across the board. 'Natural' healthcare products firm William Ranson attracted simultaneous 10,000-share buys from three directors at 48p, helping the stock up to 53p. Final results released earlier in the month showed the company move into a loss, but chairman Timothy Dye (one of the buyers) said the firm is 'confident of achieving a greatly improved performance this year'.

Elsewhere, mortgage provider Kensington saw chief executive John Maltby pick up 10,000 shares at 190p and non-executive Gareth Jones buy 50,000 at 194p.

Dublin-domiciled Dragon Oil's two executives, Hussain Sultan and Essa Al Mulla, both dipped their toes into the market for an extra 150,000 and 100,000 shares respectively, at between 12.4p and 13.5p. The company has been busy drilling wells, but admits it needs more money to continue doing so.

There has also been buying at Premiership football club Charlton Athletic, with deputy chairman Robert Whitehand picking up 45,000 shares at 15.25p and 18p, and fellow non-executive Gideon Franklin pocketing an extra 162,386 at 14.5p. Charlton lost £1.6 million in the six months to last December on £15 million turnover, but reported £22.7 million of net assets. This compares with a market value of £9 million.