As we go through the first significant pullback in the market for 2012, the dollar seems to be at a turning point that should influence market trends for the next few months. Going all the way back to 2002, there has been a strong inverse correlation between stocks and commodities, and the US dollar.  For the most part, the dollar has been falling during this period, which has helped drive cyclical bull markets in stocks and commodities.  More recently, the stock market panic of 2008 and the first euro crisis of 2010 drove significant countertrend rallies in the dollar, and corrections in stocks and commodities.