As best I can tell from the numbering of the vertical axis, you’re using a linear vertical scale. Investments, however should be expected to grow in proportion to the invested amount. This means that either 1) your red baseline should have an exponential curve, or 2) the data on the graph should be adjusted using a logarithmic scale on the vertical. I’m afraid that if you do this adjustment, you’ll see that we are in fact in quite a bit more of a slump than you think.

Another way of looking at this: In the 10 years from 1985 to 1995, the market prices went from about 1.7K to 4.0K. Based on this trend, we can expect a doubling every 7-8 years. Therefore, we should have had not-quite two more doublings in value since 1995. So, we should expect the market to be approaching 16K in the next two years. Unfortunately, we’re hovering at just over 50% of that.