Gold and silver prices fell overnight and into European and early N.Y. trade.  The London p.m. gold fix was set at $1,523, down 1.2% from the a.m. fix, and was trading at $1,522.80 Bid, $1523.80 Ask this morning, down more than 1.6%.  Spot silver was set at $36.01 and was trading at $35.38 Bid, $35.48 Ask in early trading, down nearly 1%.

True to form, gold and silver have been trading inversely to the dollar, which has been gaining against the euro – this after the U.S. Federal Reserve  essentially said there wouldn’t be a QE3 program, and a credible, long-term solution to Greece’s debt and fiscal crisis continues to elude EU leaders.

The main gold and silver ETFs also were trading sharply lower this morning:

• SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE: GLD) was down more than 1.8%,
• iShares Gold Trust (NYSE: IAU) was down over 1.9%, and
• iShares Silver Trust (NYSE: SLV) was down nearly 3.2%.

Gold and silver mining ETFs also were trading lower:

• Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDX) was down nearly 3.4%,
• Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDXJ) was down over 4.2%
• Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE: SIL) was down nearly 3-3/4%.

Individual gold mining shares also were sliding:

• Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited (NYSE: AEM) was down around 3.25%;
• Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: ABX) was down nearly 3%;
• Goldcorp (NYSE: GG) was down over 3%;
• Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM) was trading nearly 1.7% lower, and
• NovaGold Resources Inc. (USA) (AMEX: NG) was down more than 5.5%.

Leading silver mining stocks also were down in morning trade:

• Coeur D’Alene Mines Corp. (NYSE: CDE) was down more than 5%;
• Hecla Mining Company (NYSE: HL) was down nearly 3%;
• Pan American Silver Corp. (USA) (NASDAQ: PAAS) was down around 2%;
• Silver Wheaton Corp. (USA) (NYSE: SLW) was down around 2.5%, and
• Silver Standard Resources Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ: SSRI) was down around 4.2%.