Bears Have Sweet Tooth for Kandi Technologies Group, Inc. (KNDI)

Kandi Technologies Group Inc (NASDAQ:KNDI) is 4.8% higher today at $13.85, yet bearish traders are leading the way. In the stock's options pits, put are crossing at a rate 80% higher than what's normally seen at this point in the day. It appears some traders are buying to open the March 13 put, anticipating KNDI's rally will be short-lived. These speculators are hoping for the shares to fall below $13 by the close on Friday, March 20, when front-month options expire.

Today's preference for puts is a change of pace in KNDI's options pits. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), the stock's 10-day call/put volume ratio of 17.79 sits only 2 percentage points from an annual high.

However, more than one-fifth of KNDI's float is sold short, representing nearly three weeks' worth of trading, at typical daily volumes. Therefore, some of the recent call buying could have been at the hands of bears hedging their bets.

Over the past three months, Kandi Technologies Group Inc (NASDAQ:KNDI) has split time trading above and below $13, while underperforming the S&P 500 Index (SPX) by almost 9 percentage points. Now, it appears the shares may have found support atop their 10- and 20-day moving averages.