The first chart below shows the behavior of Australia's All Ordinaries since the turn of the century. The index rose 14.76% in 2013, and so far in 2013 it's down a fractional 0.41%.

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How does this index compare with the eight world markets in my weekly updates? The chart below has the latest "gang of eight" update, starting around the March 2009 trough for several of the indexes through Friday's close, with the AORD added (the bold red line).

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Since the arbitrary start date of Monday, March 9 2009, which was a trough for several world indexes (the AORD's was the Friday before), Australia's benchmark index is now positioned in the lower half of the pack, fighting it out with France's CAC 40 for seventh place.