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A quantile-boosting approach to forecasting gold returns

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  • Pierdzioch, Christian
  • Risse, Marian
  • Rohloff, Sebastian

Abstract

We use a quantile-boosting approach to compute out-of-sample forecasts of gold returns. The approach accounts for model uncertainty and model instability, and it allows forecasts to be computed under asymmetric loss functions. Different asymmetric loss functions represent different types of investors (optimists versus pessimists). We document how the performance of a simple trading rule varies across investor types.

Suggested Citation

  • Pierdzioch, Christian & Risse, Marian & Rohloff, Sebastian, 2016. "A quantile-boosting approach to forecasting gold returns," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 38-55.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecofin:v:35:y:2016:i:c:p:38-55
    DOI: 10.1016/j.najef.2015.10.015
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    Cited by:

    1. Mehmet Balcilar & Rangan Gupta & Christian Pierdzioch, 2017. "On exchange-rate movements and gold-price fluctuations: evidence for gold-producing countries from a nonparametric causality-in-quantiles test," International Economics and Economic Policy, Springer, vol. 14(4), pages 691-700, October.
    2. Risse, Marian & Ohl, Ludwig, 2017. "Using dynamic model averaging in state space representation with dynamic Occam’s window and applications to the stock and gold market," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 158-176.
    3. Demirer, Riza & Pierdzioch, Christian & Zhang, Huacheng, 2017. "On the short-term predictability of stock returns: A quantile boosting approach," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 35-41.
    4. Díaz, Juan D. & Hansen, Erwin & Cabrera, Gabriel, 2023. "Gold risk premium estimation with machine learning methods," Journal of Commodity Markets, Elsevier, vol. 31(C).
    5. Dichtl, Hubert, 2020. "Forecasting excess returns of the gold market: Can we learn from stock market predictions?," Journal of Commodity Markets, Elsevier, vol. 19(C).
    6. Gupta, Rangan & Pierdzioch, Christian & Vivian, Andrew J. & Wohar, Mark E., 2019. "The predictive value of inequality measures for stock returns: An analysis of long-span UK data using quantile random forests," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 315-322.
    7. Rangan Gupta & Sayar Karmakar & Christian Pierdzioch, 2024. "Safe Havens, Machine Learning, and the Sources of Geopolitical Risk: A Forecasting Analysis Using Over a Century of Data," Computational Economics, Springer;Society for Computational Economics, vol. 64(1), pages 487-513, July.
    8. Shahzad, Syed Jawad Hussain & Rahman, Md Lutfur & Lucey, Brian M. & Uddin, Gazi Salah, 2021. "Re-examining the real option characteristics of gold for gold mining companies," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    9. Gupta, Rangan & Majumdar, Anandamayee & Pierdzioch, Christian & Wohar, Mark E., 2017. "Do terror attacks predict gold returns? Evidence from a quantile-predictive-regression approach," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 276-284.
    10. Balcilar, Mehmet & Gupta, Rangan & Pierdzioch, Christian, 2016. "Does uncertainty move the gold price? New evidence from a nonparametric causality-in-quantiles test," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 74-80.
    11. Risse, Marian, 2019. "Combining wavelet decomposition with machine learning to forecast gold returns," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 601-615.
    12. Salisu, Afees A. & Gupta, Rangan & Nel, Jacobus & Bouri, Elie, 2022. "The (Asymmetric) effect of El Niño and La Niña on gold and silver prices in a GVAR model," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    13. Esteban Vanegas & Andrés Mora-Valencia, 2025. "Skew Index: a machine learning forecasting approach," Risk Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 27(1), pages 1-60, January.
    14. Luqman, Muhammad & Mugheri, Adil & Ahmad, Najid & Soytas, Ugur, 2023. "Casting shadows on natural resource commodity markets: Unraveling the quantile dilemma of gold and crude oil prices," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(PA).
    15. Syed Abul, Basher & Perry, Sadorsky, 2022. "Forecasting Bitcoin price direction with random forests: How important are interest rates, inflation, and market volatility?," MPRA Paper 113293, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Zhu, Huiming & Peng, Cheng & You, Wanhai, 2016. "Quantile behaviour of cointegration between silver and gold prices," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 19(C), pages 119-125.
    17. David Gabauer & Rangan Gupta & Sayar Karmakar & Joshua Nielsen, 2022. "Stock Market Bubbles and the Forecastability of Gold Returns (and Volatility)," Working Papers 202228, University of Pretoria, Department of Economics.
    18. Christian Pierdzioch & Marian Risse, 2020. "Forecasting precious metal returns with multivariate random forests," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 58(3), pages 1167-1184, March.

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