Note that the time horizon for long is months and years.
Weeks or even months, gold could be bearish as it forms this handle.
This is monthly chart of Gold Futures forming what might be a cup-n-handle pattern through a bull flag (bullish flag) in the daily or weekly chart.
If this is indeed a cup and handle then that's a lot of upside (though will take years or decades).
The "safer" long-term trade might be to wait for the handle to fully form, then higher-high and higher-lows before taking advantage of the cup-n-handle.
Of course, it's possible it might not happen.
The challenge short and medium-term is how long would the bullish flag last before it breaks out.
While flag is playing out, it's "safer" to be in the bearish side of the trade.
Except that when it breaks out of the flag and your on bearish side, that will be painful.
That's why even if at high-level you have the right pattern, how you execute (based on the timeframe) could still get your into trouble.
I guess we will revisit in a few years.