Company stops providing free quotes

YOUNGSTOWN -- Butler Wick & amp; Co. has stopped providing free quotes on stock prices.
The company's 30-year-old quote line ended Monday.
David Bennett, manager of the company's Youngstown branch, said the service was meant for Butler Wick customers, but too many noncustomers were taking advantage of it.
He said he thinks brokers from other firms were having their clients call the quote line if they just wanted the price of a stock.
Bennett said phone operators had been asking callers who their broker was, and many people either hung up or said they didn't have one. He said about one of every three callers was not a Butler Wick customer.
Butler Wick customers still can receive quotes by calling their brokers and asking them or their secretaries, he said.
"It's just as fast," he said.
Bennett also said the service isn't as needed as it used to be because people can find stock prices elsewhere, such as on the Internet or on television.