The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that a pricing war has rattled the U.S. discount stock brokerage market, putting Toronto-Dominion Bank in a strategic bind as it mulls ways to limit the damage. The Globe's James Bradshaw writes that when Charles Schwab Corp. slashed commissions for on-line trades of U.S. stocks, exchange-traded funds and options to zero last week, rivals such as TD Ameritrade were quick to match the new pricing. For Ameritrade, however, the race to zero is an especially deep cut: The lost commissions are expected to wipe out 15 to 16 per cent of the company's revenue, which would reduce earnings per share by about 40 per cent. TD owns 43 per cent of Ameritrade, and its investors are bracing for proportionate pain for the Canadian bank, which could see earnings per share fall by as much as 2.8 per cent. The changes also raise questions about whether commission-free trading could catch on more widely in Canada. "In the span of two weeks, one of TD's prized assets lost a lot of value," National Bank Financial analyst Gabriel Dechaine said in a research note. "The punishing impact flows directly to the bottom line [after] taxes," CIBC World Markets analyst Robert Sedran said.