Stutters no matter the fps set

1

First off, I am not an animator.

I am trying to create a feeder of sorts. I have tried different fps on publishing but always get the stutter no matter the speed. There are only 4 - 5 items in moveItemsArr and on screen at any given time. Here is my mover function that gets called via a timer:


private function actMover (event:TimerEvent):void {
            moveItemsArrL = moveItemsArr.length-1;
            for (var j:int = moveItemsArrL; j>=0; j--) {
                var currBit:Bitmap = moveItemsArr[j];
                currBit.x -= speed;
                
                if (currBit.x<(-currBit.width)) {
                    stage.removeChild(currBit);  ///Removes instance that is past stage view
                    moveItemsArr.splice(j, 1);
                }
                
                var someOtherNum:Number = currBit.x + currBit.width * 2;
                if (someOtherNum == stageWidth) {
                    whereWeAt(); ///Adds another instance to stage at specific location
                }
            }
        };

////Timer stuff 
private static const FRAME_RATE:int = 30;
private var _period:Number = 1000 / FRAME_RATE;
timer=new Timer(_period);
timer.addEventListener(TimerEvent.TIMER, actMover);
timer.start();

Why do I get a stutter? How to achieve fluid movement? I am lost?

-MT