.tickercontainer { /* the outer div with the black border */
width: 970px; 
height: 16px; 
margin: 0; 
padding: 0;
white-space: nowrap;
overflow: hidden; 

}
.tickercontainer .mask { /* that serves as a mask. so you get a sort of padding both left and right */
position: relative;
left: 3px;
top: 0px;
width: 970px;
height: 14px;
white-space: nowrap;
overflow: hidden;
}

ul.newsticker { /* that's your list */
position: relative;
left: 750px;
list-style-type: none;
white-space: nowrap;
margin: 0;
padding: 0;

}
ul.newsticker li {
float: left; /* important: display inline gives incorrect results when you check for elem's width */
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
height: 16px;
white-space: nowrap;
overflow:hidden;
}
ul.newsticker a {
white-space: nowrap;
font-weight: normal;
padding: 0;
color: #000;
} 
ul.newsticker span {
white-space: nowrap;
}