st: create local from element of matrix e(b)

["Claire Kamp Dush" <ckamp-dush@ehe.osu.edu>]

Dear statalist,
I am sure someone had to have asked this type of question before, but in my googling and searching of the statalist archive, I could not come across a clear answer.
 
I am trying to create a local that equals an element of matrix e(b) produced by Stata following xtreg, fe. In fact, I am trying to get the first element.
 
Here is what I did:
 
quietly xtreg mdepc wavedi mdis_coh, fe
. matrix list e(b)
e(b)[1,3]
       wavedi   mdis_coh      _cons
y1  .24873096  .34650713  .83985765
 
. local dif = el(e(b), 1,1)
matrix operators that return matrices not allowed in this context
r(509);
. local dif = e(b)[1,1]
invalid syntax
r(198);
. gen dif = el(e(b), 1,1)
matrix operators that return matrices not allowed in this context
r(509);
. gen dif = e(b)[1,1]
matrix operators that return matrices not allowed in this context
r(509);

 
I would appreciate any advice - I am sure I am making a really obvious mistake.
Many thanks, Claire Kamp Dush
 
 
Claire M. Kamp Dush 
Assistant Professor 
Human Development and Family Science 
Faculty Affiliate 
The Initiative in Population Research 
The Ohio State University 
Phone: (614) 247-2126 
http://ehe.osu.edu/hdfs/ <http://ehe.osu.edu/hdfs/>  
http://ipr.osu.edu/ <http://ipr.osu.edu/>   

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