Accurate gold price forecasting is essential for informed financial decision-making, as gold is sensitive to economic, political, and social factors. This study presents a hybrid framework for multivariate gold price prediction that integrates classical econometric modelling, traditional machine learning, modern deep learning methods, and their combinations. The framework incorporates financial, macroeconomic, and sentiment indicators, allowing it to capture complex temporal patterns and cross-variable relationships over time. Empirical validation on an eleven-year dataset (2014–2024) demonstrates the framework effectiveness across diverse market conditions. Results show that advanced supervised techniques outperform traditional econometric models under dynamic market environment. Key advantages of the framework include its ability to handle multiple data types, apply a structured variable selection process, employ diverse model families, and support model hybridisation and meta-modelling, providing practical guidance for investors, institutions, and policymakers.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced national governments and administrations to seek flexible solutions to deal with the emergency. Thus, the main purpose of the current study is to design a model of a flexible methodology based on detailed flexible methodologies to make decisions and measures connected to COVID-19 pandemic to be effectively applied without the loss of meaning and within a short time. For the creation of the methodology, we used comprehensive desk research based upon a literature review in the period May 2021–November 2021. As a result, an expandable set of relevant methodologies for crisis management and flexible methodologies was identified, modeled, and formalized using a broad literature review and an innovative model of a flexible methodology for crisis management was created in accordance with standardized concepts, transforming them into secondary use models. Furthermore, an algorithm for taking measures and decisions in crisis conditions was designed. The next step is to implement the methodology, which is planned for future empirical research. The findings provide an innovative model of a flexible methodology that could be used by academic and business representatives, public institutions of central and local government, and private stakeholders.