var newsitems;
var curritem=0;

$(document).ready(function(){
    newsitems = $("#ticker li").hide().size();
    $("#ticker li:eq("+curritem+")").fadeIn("slow");
    setInterval(ticknews,5000); //time in milliseconds
});

function ticknews() {
    $("#ticker li:eq("+curritem+")").fadeOut("slow",
			function() {
				curritem = ++curritem%newsitems;
				$("#ticker li:eq("+curritem+")").fadeIn("slow");
			});
}