There went the banner year for new stock

Remember the talk that IPOs were going to have a banner year in 2015? Scratch that.

The weak stock market is taking a toll on investors' speculative appetite for anything with a ticker symbol. A new appreciation for risk is clear in the initial public offering market. So far this year, 131 companies have successfully sold stock to the public for the first time to raise $22 billion, Renaissance Capital says. The number of offerings is down 31% from the same point a year ago.

Renaissance estimates there could be up to 70 IPOs the rest of the year. If that forecast is accurate, there would be 201 deals this year — making it the lowest year for IPOs since 2012, when the market was still trying to recover. That would be down 27% from the 275 deals last year.

It's logical for the IPO market to suffer more when the stock market sputters. Investors need to feel confident about the economy and corporate earnings before they'll take a flyer on a small and relatively unproven company that's new to the public market.

IPOs often are the first area of the market to suffer when the broad market retreats — and it's one of the latest areas to recover once the market finds its footing.

With the Standard & Poor's 500 still down roughly 8% from its high — after briefly flirting with an unofficial 10% correction — it's understandable investors will look for stability before jumping back into IPOs. The bright side is that IPOs that do get done could hold more interesting values now.