Good news is good for the dollar? Imagine that!

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- For a long time, you had to engage in some difficult mental gymnastics to figure out what was going on with the dollar.

The greenback would go down on good economic data and would rally when the macro outlook was at its most dire. Huh? Shouldn't a currency reflect the underlying strength or weakness of the nation that issues it?

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Yes. And here's some good news: The dollar may finally have booked itself a one-way ticket out of Crazy Currency Town. The dollar rose about 1% Wednesday against the euro and a basket of other major currencies after the surprisingly strong jobs numbers from payroll processor ADP.

That makes sense, according to several currency experts.

"We are getting away from this notion of currencies moving because of investors' risk appetite. We're closer to being back to normal but we're not completely there yet," said Vassili Serebriakov, a currency strategist with Wells Fargo in New York.

During the financial crisis and its immediate aftermath, the dollar would go down on favorable economic data because riskier assets suddenly would be viewed as more attractive. And the dollar would rally when numbers painted a bleak picture because the greenback was still perceived to be safer than the rest of the world's currencies.

There may have been some twisted logic at a time of heightened confusion and uncertainty. But with hopes growing for a decent economic rebound in the U.S. this year, dumping the dollar just isn't rational.

"Good data should be positive for the dollar especially because Europe's problems have not been worked out," said Kathy Lien, director of currency research at GFT, a foreign exchange and futures brokerage firm in New York. "Meanwhile, investors believe the U.S. recovery is gaining momentum."

Lien thinks the dollar is likely to keep climbing for at least the next few months.

Jonathan Lewis, chairman of the investment committee for Samson Capital Advisors in New York, also said the dollar should do well as long as the U.S. economy continues to pick up steam. But he pointed out that "dollar strength" is a relative term.

The dollar may not be able to do as well against currencies tied to robust emerging markets like China and Brazil as well as commodity-rich nations like Canada and Australia.

"If you look under the hood, the dollar is not doing as well," Lewis said.

Serebriakov agreed, saying that the dollar should gain ground versus the euro, pound and yen and dubbing it "the best of the worst core currencies."

Lien warned that the dollar could even start to pull back again later this year as it becomes more obvious that the Federal Reserve probably won't start raising interest rates until 2012 at the earliest -- even if the economy is improving.

As long as the Fed acts as if the economy is on life support and keeps rates near zero, she said traders may eventually look for better values in currencies tied to countries with higher interest rates.

Axel Merk, president of Merk Mutual Funds, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based money manager specializing in currency investments, also worries about the Fed's long-term impact on the dollar.

Like Lien, Merk thinks the dollar has some room to run higher in the early part of this year. But he's concerned that the Fed's controversial quantitative easing program, while helping to lift the economy in the near term, will come at a price.

"We're going to get a pickup in growth because the Fed wants to grow at any cost. The dollar is enjoying the ride for now but ultimately there will be higher commodity prices, higher inflation and a weaker dollar," he said.

-- The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Paul R. La Monica. Other than Time Warner, the parent of CNNMoney, and Abbott Laboratories, La Monica does not own positions in any individual stocks.