Are you tired of looking at that one stock day after day, willing it to turn in your favor? Well it may just be time to start considering the diverse world of exchange traded funds (ETFs).

The old methods of investment have investors overlooking important asset classes and funds, but it could be the right time to rethink investment strategies so that it touches upon all sectors while also being up to date with a capricious economy, writes Anthony Welch for IndexUniverse.

Many investors are rethinking the old-school method of building a portfolio with a mix of stocks and bonds. Does this method really have the best long-term benefits? Traditional investing eliminates key asset classes. The world is changing, and it might be time to think about the old way of doing things and consider ETFs.

For example, biotech stocks have been showing some potential. If they pique your interest, looking into biotech ETFs such as SPDR S&P Biotech (XBI) could allow an investor to be part of an ETF that is fairly equally weighted and contains big biotechs that have adaptive resources for creating new products. It’s a lot easier than trying to guess which company will hit it big.

Perhaps you fancy food and agriculture stocks? One of many agriculture ETFs, Market Vectors Agribusiness ETF (MOO), is an alternative ETF for the changing long-term trends in the global markets. It should be noted that this ETF may be volatile at times because of its focus on a select area of the market, but the future need for efficiency with limited amount of land may make MOO more mainstream.

Currencies can also help investors diversify to mitigate risk, but note that currencies are not to be considered for long-term holders. Typically, currencies are not as likely to be influenced by hourly changes on the trading floors of Wall Street, but if a change does occur then it would stay for awhile. The current outlook for the U.S. dollar is still rather bullish and an ETF covering this is PowerShares DB U.S. Dollar Index Bullish (UUP), or if you think the dollar is going to tank soon then opt for PowerShares DB U.S. Dollar Index Bearish (UDN).

It should also be noted that if investors do decide to branch out and have more diversity, to just mind the trend lines. ETFs offer investors the option to invest in areas they might not have been in the past, so take advantage of it.

Tags: Agriculture, Biotechnology, Bond ETFs, Commodity ETFs, Currency ETFs, Health Care, MOO, Sector ETFs, U.S. Dollar, UDN, UUP, XBI