When the going gets rough, the IPO market dries up.

The new issue market looked like it was going to revive this year 10 months into the stock market rally. However, the recent volatility and market selloff has spooked issuers of new shares.

At least three of the five companies that were scheduled to go public this week delayed or postponed their IPOs. They include Imperial Capital Group, an investment bank, Friendfinder, an online adult social networking and multimedia entertainment company, and Patriot Risk Management, which provides workers' compensation insurance and fee-based insurance services, according to Bloomberg.

Earlier this week, Ironwood Pharmaceuticals reduced the size of its offering by 30 percent, according to the report.

Film Department Holding, a small independent film producer, is reportedly the only one of the five moving ahead with its plans to raise $85 million.

Last week, three companies pulled their planned IPOs. They include Terreno Realty, making it the first company to cancel plans to go public this year.

Daqo New Energy, a China-based manufacturer of polysilicon for solar power applications, also postponed its IPO last week shortly after cutting its deal size by 22%, according to Renaissance. And HealthPort, which provides outsourced medical records release services to hospitals and clinics, withdrew its planned IPO. Last November, it postponed its initial plan to go public, according to Renaissance.

The abrupt postponements of this week's deals underscore the fickleness and tenuousness of the IPO market. Companies typically go public when times are good and there is more certainty. This is because IPOs are deemed by investors to be very risky.

In fact, the number of IPOs in the United States rose consistently during each quarter of 2009 as the overall stock market sustained its recovery, with fourth-quarter IPO activity reaching new levels and generating the highest quarterly proceeds since the first quarter of 2008, according to a quarterly survey of all IPOs on U.S. exchanges from PricewaterhouseCoopers' Transaction Services practice.

Indeed, Brian Barish, president of Denver-based Cambiar Investors, which oversees $5.5 billion, told Bloomberg: "It is hard for IPOs to carve out a lot of interest in a market that's been generally frustrating.  As a portfolio manager, why compound your frustration with these unseasoned offerings? We've looked at a couple of IPOs, but we haven't participated in any meaningful way."

FriendFinder has hoped to raise around $220 million by offering 20 million shares at between $10 and $12 a pop, according to IPO expert Renaissance Capital. Patriot Risk Management planned to raise $187 million while Imperial Capital planned to raise $107 million.