U.S. growth may be ready to cool, Europe faces a serious deflation risk, and emerging markets are in disarray.

As the feel-good talk emanating from the World Economic Forum gathering at Davos last month fades and equity investors contemplate the possibility of a major market correction, a combination of factors suggests that something ominous may be afoot. Taken together, these three factors—simultaneous liquidity withdrawal by the Federal Reserve and China, a U.S. stock market on a knife's edge, and emerging markets in disarray—indicate that the global economy could be in danger of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.