If investing directly in gold isn’t an option for you, look to Exchange Traded Funds. On Wall Street, there are five ETFs that are gold investing oriented.

The one I like is streetTRACKS Gold Trust (Symbol: GLD). This ETF is a way to invest in gold and trade it like a stock.

Of the five I reviewed, GLD is the strongest and has the most potential. All five gold-oriented ETFs I looked at lost money in the past month, but GLD only lost 1.33% and it’s been coming back over the past week.

The Fund (GLD) is designed to be an effective investment vehicle for investors who want a cost-effective way to invest in gold bullion.

GLD has grown by 4.2% in 2007 and 2.04% over the past 12 months. StreetTRACKS Gold Trust has $9.92 billion in total net assets.

Traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), GLD closed at $65.61 on Tuesday, July 10, 2007. It’s sitting just off its 52-week high of $68.73 and comfortably off its 52-week low of $55.55.

Other Gold Exchange Traded Funds

Here are four other gold-oriented Exchange Traded Funds.

1. Ishares Comex Gold Trust (Symbol: IAU) $975.7 million in assets.
2. Market Vectors Gold Miners (Symbol: GDX) $611 million in assets.
3. Powershares Db Gold Fund (Symbol: DGL) $20.9 million in assets.
4. Powershares Db Precious Metals Fund (Symbol: DBP) $15.7 million in assets.

Bottom line, if you want to peg some of your assets to gold without going directly through the gold bullion market, one of these Exchange Traded Funds—especially GLD—might be the right move for you.

Note: If you’re not familiar with Exchange Traded Funds, check out the introduction article I wrote about them.