Though Gulzhan Moldazhanova is the top female executive in Russia, she is little known outside the former Soviet Union. I hadn't heard of her, and a quick trip to my frequent first stop on the research trail, Wikipedia, surprisingly had nothing on her when I looked.

Digging a little deeper (thanks to the Globe and Mail) reveals a rags to riches story. This soft-spoken, Khazakstan-born divorced mother of a three-year-old, started her career as the secretary for an ambitious young Russian businessman named Oleg Deripaska (who does have a Wikipedia page). In only ten years she worked her way up the ladder to become CEO of Russia's biggest and fastest-growing industrial conglomerate, Basic Element. This US$23 billion company is a big player in seven domestic industries -- energy, resources, manufacturing, financial services, construction, materials, and aviation -- and recently took a US$1.54 billion stake in Canadian auto parts giant Magna International (NYSE: MGA).

Moldazhanova lives in Moscow, speaks English, and according to Fortune magazine is the 20th most powerful woman in the world. She first went to work for Deripaska when he was running an aluminum trading company. After she trained as an accountant at the Russian government's Finance Academy, her career took off. By 2003, Deripaska, and his company Rusal, had became the undisputed king of Russian aluminum. In 2006, Rusal surpassed Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) and to become the world's top aluminum maker.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the private equity firm Cerberus has won the bidding for Chrysler. DaimlerChrysler (NYSE: DCX), which will probably change its name, will hold a small stake in the new holding company. Cerberus bought the majority of GMAC from General Motors (NYSE: GM) last year.

Aside from what Cerberus pays for the U.S. car company, which may be very little, the key to the transaction will be that Daimler will move the $18 billion of Chrysler pension and benefits obligations off of its books.

The UAW is bound to try to derail the deal. They favor having Daimler keep Chrysler or sell it to Canadian car parts company Magna International (NYSE: MGA). In either case, the union believed it could hold on to more jobs. The UAW may now be faced with trying to block the deal at the Daimler supervisory board level, or threaten to strike in the face of the deal. A work stoppage could badly damage Chrysler's already troubled efforts to turn around it sinking U.S. sales.

Cerberus may have the money, but the union holds most of the cards.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.

Daimlerchrysler AG (NYSE: DCX) opened at $81.22. So far today the stock has hit a low of $80.67 and a high of $82.84. As of 12:20 p.m., DCX is trading at $82.60, up $5.00 (6.4%).

After hitting a one year high of $77.99 yesterday, the stock has already established another high today after news of a buyout bid from Magna International and an unnamed private equity partner for the company's Chrysler unit. The technical indicators for DCX have been bullish and slightly deteriorating, while S&P gives the stock its worst 1 STARS (out of 5) strong sell rating.

For a bullish hedged play on this stock, I would consider a July bull-put credit spread below the $65 range. DCX was below $65 in early February, but has formed support around $66 since. This trade could be risky if the bid falls though and the company reverts to its previous prices, but the support around $66 could protect our position.

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Brent Archer is an options analyst and writer at Investors Observer (Free Subscription). DISCLOSURE: Mr. Archer owns and/or controls diversified portfolios of long and short stock and option positions that may include holdings in companies he writes about.