var newsitems;
var curritem=0;
$(document).ready(function(){
    newsitems = $("#ticker li").hide().size();
    $("#ticker li:eq("+curritem+")").show();
    setInterval(ticknews,4000); //time in milliseconds

});

function ticknews() {

    $("#ticker li:eq("+curritem+")").fadeOut("slow");
    curritem = ++curritem%newsitems;
    $("#ticker li:eq("+curritem+")").fadeIn("slow");

}