SimpleXML equivalent?

I've been having a lot of problems with the code snippet below.  In a previous question, someone suggested that I use simplexml.  Can anyone tell me what that would be given the code below:

$results = file_get_contents($q."&requiredfields=stream_$stream".$required_fields)
$theDocument = domxml_open_mem($results);
$xPath = $theDocument->path_new_context();
$total[$stream] = $xPath->xpath_eval('//M/text()');

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