Eight companies, including an optical components provider and computer chip maker, are slated to price their IPOs and begin trading this week, according to financial information provider WorldFinanceNet.com.

The deals come after a rocky week, during which a handful of companies drew yawns in their public debuts and a slew of others scrapped their IPOs altogether.

"If these deals go, then there is still some hope for the next couple of weeks. If these start to dry up there is really little hope at all for the rest," said Irv DeGraw, research director at WorldFinanceNet.com, referring to companies waiting in the pipeline for an opportune time to price their IPOs.

October has ranked as one of the cruelest months this year for IPOs. About 34 companies have postponed or withdrawn IPOs this month, the most during any one month in the year 2000, according to Thomson Financial Securities Data.

New stock offerings in October increased an average 17 per cent in their first day of trading, the lowest gain of any month this year, according to the research firm.

Things went from bad to worse last week as Wall Street fled fiber-optic companies Wednesday, threatening to cast a shadow on one of the few sectors in the new-issues market that perform well.

Nortel Networks Corp., the world's No 2 telecommunications equipment maker, reported optical equipment sales were lower than expected, Nortel ended down six per cent on Friday at $ 43 on the New York Stock Exchange after taking a pounding of as much as eight per cent Thursday.

Its report sparked a sell off in related companies. Investors ventured back into the sector Friday after JDS Uniphase Corp. reported robust results and higher growth forecasts, but some fiber-optic firms remained in the doghouse. JDS added $2-13/16 to $77-1/4 on Nasdaq on Friday.

For the week, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 364.03 points at 10,590.62. The Nasdaq composite index was down 204.78 at 3,278.36, and the Standard & Poor's 500 index was off 17.35 at 1,379.58. "Until now the market had just leapt at optical networking, biotechs and alternative energy (IPOs)," DeGraw said. "If optical networking, the real heart of it, is gone then it's like a two-legged stool. Nortel hurt bad, and it looks like JDS Uniphase did not have enough legs to pull the whole market back. So it's a real uncertain outlook." But biotechnology and alternative energy IPOs may be falling out of favour as well. Hydrogenics Inc., a fuel-cell testing company, ended just 25 cents higher than its offering price of $12 on Friday. Crucell NV, a Dutch biotechnology firm, ended Friday down $1-1/4 at $12.75 after pricing its deal at about $14.89.

"Obviously those companies that have posted their deals for next week have confidence that they can get them done, but I think it's still very touchy," said Edmund Cashman, a senior executive vice president at brokerage firm Legg Mason Wood Walker Inc.

DeGraw has selected two of the deals tentatively set to begin trading this week as his "top picks" - Optical Communications Prodcts, which makes optical components for metro area networks, and Transmeta Corp., which makes a new generation of computer chips.

Wall Street analysts are reluctant to forecast how the IPOS will do. "We have such a changing climate now - in one day the market can change dramatically," Cashman said.