Illustration by Cathy Wilcox. Ms Rottinger told the court "a lot of traders do look at astrology" and she had prepared astrological reports to guide the firm. "There's a lot of volumes [books] on astrology and trading," Ms Rottinger said. "We're made up of electromagnetic energy. We can manipulate that field ... to create better outcomes." KPMG is conducting a liquidators' examination into the demise of the Sydney-based BBY, which collapsed in May 2015 owing an estimated $61 million to clients.

Former BBY executive chairman Glenn Rosewall. It has described the downfall of the firm as the largest failure of an Australian stockbroking firm since the global financial crisis. The court has heard explosive evidence that Mr Rosewall – majority owner of the firm with his father, tennis great Ken Rosewall – sought advice from Ms Rottinger about budget projections for the firm. Ms Rottinger agreed she had no financial training and her skills were "purely astrological". But she denied it was "extraordinary" for Mr Rosewall jnr to seek her advice about the running of the multimillion-dollar business. "Explain to me what is extraordinary," Ms Rottinger said.

"He's just bouncing [ideas] around. I'm not the only one. He's got 250 employees." Ms Rottinger said Mr Rosewall was "an intelligent man who had a very open mind" and she also provided guidance on "feng shui, energy and space in the office". She said "a great portion of our discussions were centred around shares, share prices and his business". This was done "purely intuitively. I just get an image in my mind that tells me what a price may be". "I'm not always right," Ms Rottinger said.

David Pritchard, SC, who is acting for KPMG, asked Ms Rottinger if she would close her eyes when trying to intuit the numbers. "Sometimes I look out the window," she replied. KPMG's report into BBY has noted the firm's investment in fledgling listed miner Firestone Energy contributed to its demise. Ms Rottinger agreed Mr Rosewall had wanted her to practice a form of "mind over matter" to achieve a movement in Firestone's share price that was favourable to BBY. "He was willing to consider it was possible and I was prepared to give it a go," Ms Rottinger said.

She said she provided an astrological report on Firestone "out of initiative" and would sometimes volunteer information. "In the old days you would call it an oracle. Astrology is a 4000 year old tool that we use," she said. The firm's former chief executive, Arun Maharaj, has described Mr Rosewall jnr as "a tyrant [who] ran his firm like a dictatorship". He told the court he introduced Mr Rosewall to Ms Rottinger after attending one of her meditation workshops because he was worried Mr Rosewall was having a "tough time" in his personal life. Ms Rottinger said she met Mr Rosewall on June 9, 2009, at about 9am "so there's a lot of nines in that".

She said Mr Rosewall had come in "with a lot of concerns as to how he was handling his workload" and she worked with him on "particular chakras related to that". She also sent Mr Rosewall incantations he should perform because "rhythm and rhyme, not just the content of words, has an effect on both your conscious and unconscious minds". KMPG has alleged BBY was insolvent from as early as 2011 and the firm may have dipped into clients' money. The court heard Ms Rottinger's guidance was sought about how best to resolve the financial circumstances of BBY including its inability to pay its debts at a "messy lunch" in December 2014, which was attended by Mr Rosewall and his father. By that stage she had been advising the firm for more than four years.The court heard one invoice for two hours' consulting work totalled $300 but Ms Rottinger said that in about 2011 she stopped charging fees.

At one point, Ms Rottinger emailed Mr Rosewall jnr to say he was "breaking [her] heart". She told the court it was at "a very tough time". "I too need things to work for you yet I cannot control it all for you," Ms Rottinger wrote in the email, adding "when I met you, [the] spirit asked me to hold you in the light." KPMG has said it considers there may be grounds for a claim against the BBY directors in relation to losses caused by insolvent trading. The examination continues.