The emerging markets welcomed the Chinese Year of the Horse with a wild ride of their own. On Monday, January 27, just as traders across Asia were winding down for a short week before flying off to enjoy the annual break, all hell broke loose.

Investors, already spooked by growing popular unrest in Thailand, Brazil, Ukraine and Turkey, took flight amid bad news over China's slowing economic growth and fears that many emerging markets will buckle as the Fed puts an end to the era of super-easy money. Shares in Asia closed at near five-month lows and panic quickly spread, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing down 326 points on Monday, February 3.