Add this bit to the mounting evidence against the green shoots theory: corporate executives are dumping their share holdings faster than they can say "we've hit bottom and are poised for growth."

According to a new report from California-based investment research firm TrimTabs, corporate insiders--the bigwigs required to disclose their personal finances to the SEC--bought less and sold more in April, May and June alike. So far this month, insiders at S&P 500 companies dumped $2.6 billion worth of shares. Even more concerning is how little they're buying: $120m worth. That's noteworthy for two reasons. Not only is the balance way off kilter, it also just so happens that those meager buying numbers are the better indicators of where insiders heads are at. People sell for a lot of reasons, says strategist Vincent Deluard: they've been given free stock, they're looking to buy a house, etc. But buying is more straightforward; it either means they're optimistic about where companies are headed or they're not. And right now, those looking at the balance sheets are decidedly in the "not" camp.

[MORE AFTER THE JUMP]

There’s plenty of talk about green stimulus plans around the world, but numbers tell a different story. A new report by the OECD, an organization of the world’s richest countries, shows that green efforts in many countries are being thwarted rather than encouraged by the economic crisis. In particular, lower oil prices have slowed the push to adopt alternative energy sources which seemed so urgent last year when oil was $147 a barrel. That will likely change now that oil prices are creeping back up; what’s more worrisome is the sharp slow-down in research spending amongst businesses. Historically, R & D spending moves in parallel with GDP – it slowed down in the early 1990s recession, as well as after the dot-com bubble. Recent evidence based on first quarter corporate results from this year shows that it’s happening again. US venture capital is down 60 percent over the previous year, and declines are similar in Europe and China. Patent applications are down almost everywhere.

This is bad news, because lots of smart economists believe that in lieu of the American consumer, who doesn’t seem likely to re-open their wallet anytime soon, only some sort of major innovation burst--something that really revolutionizes productivity or energy usage--is going to get the global economy back on track longer term. If that's the case, it would come from new technologies, the kind that people aren’t investing in these days. It’s ironic, because there are plenty of examples that show that when countries or companies do up their research investment in a downturn, it tends to pay off in spades. Finland boosted it back in the 1990s, grabbing large chunks of the global telecoms market, and Korea did the same after 2001, increasing its ranking amongst rich countries. Likewise, Google and Samsung came out much stronger after spending in past recessions. Those that don’t, like Western Europe, tend to fall behind. Note to politicians: while you are busy bailing out banks and auto firms, don’t forget tax credits and research incentives for the smaller, more innovative firms that will create the next generation of jobs, and eventually get us out of this crisis.