Throughout the deep stock market slump of the past 2½ months, some investors have been buying all the shares they can lay their hands on. But their interest is highly selective. With all the zeal of an author singlehandedly trying to make his book a bestseller, many of the nation's best-known corporations are buying up their own stock.
Just since Jan. 1, companies have announced stock repurchases adding up to nearly $1.4 billiona total already more than double the figure for all 1972. The ranks of the corporate buyers include AMF, American Broadcasting, American Cyanamid, Continental Can, Gulf & Western,...