The FTSE 100 turns 40 on January 3, having launched on that date in 1984 at a starting value of 1,000. The UK’s market benchmark currently stands at a little under 7,500, which might not sound too bad – until you consider that it came within a whisker of hitting 7,000 as long ago as New Year’s Eve 1999. Footsie’s early years were significantly more rewarding for investors than its late teens and early adulthood have been. Until the bursting of the dot.com bubble in 2000, the index only fell twic