Dollar doesn't matter. A weak dollar is actually good for the US economy, as it boosts exports, reducing imports. Bernanke has said it clearly before.
I'm not married to a side, but for swing trading it is always better to be in congruence with the market and sector. Obviously my daily futures trading is not affected by my bullish nature as I will not hold futures overnight.
Reading into news depends on what type of trader you are - daytrader, position/swing and/or investor. After some point you just learn to drown it out and focus on the charts. The only thing that matters is price!
No, it is not bullish, but we really have not gone up a whole lot either. THAT *could* be viewed as bearish. I reference the old Market axiom: "Buy the rumor, sell the news" also works, "sell the rumor, buy the news." What I am saying is, it is quite possible that the levels we are at right now was priced into this news because the rumor was sold. Just my guess mind you - I have no idea why else we don't fall hard. Another thought............SOMEONE is consistently buying at key levels when we *probably* should be falling thru them - IMO, the retail guys are not consistently buying at key levels - they ALWAYS buy at the top! The moving force - or at least the guys keeping us from falling lower in this grind, comes right from the big money guys.....................why? Crazy stuff! All JMHO