As if the British economy didn't already have enough problems... the London Stock Exchange (LSE) went kaput today after a computer glitch forced the exchange to suspend trading. Nearly six hours after the glitch ocurred, trading is still suspended, and traders are enraged that they are missing out on all the Fannie/Freddie action. The Times:

Shares in London are still frozen nearly six hours after trading was suspended due to a "connectivity issue", and the LSE admitted that establishing customer connectivity was taking "longer than expected".

The LSE suspended connection to the exchange before 9am today after some customers experienced problems.

The operator admitted it was unsure when trading will restart today, while the cause of the problem is not yet known.

One City insider said that traders will lose "millions and millions and millions" of commission on deals, adding that today's closedown is "very serious and disastrous".

It is suspected that the problem has something to do with the LSE's "SETS" trading platform, since the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, which uses the same platform, is also shut down. No word yet on when things will be up and running again.

A word of encouragement to our cousins across the pond: Don't worry! You can make your big commissions the next time there's a huge rally in financials prompted by the unprecedented nationalization of two of the world's largest mortgage lenders. Oh... wait...