what is workable indication 
workable indication is a pricing technique stated as a range which allows a dealer or broker flexibility when offering to buy or sell a particular debt instrument it primarily applies to the municipal bond market understanding workable indicationsimply put a workable indication is a nominal quote showing the price at which a dealer is willing to either buy or sell an individual bond issue this offer differs from a firm quote aka a bona fide quote which is binding on the dealer they must follow through with the deal at a price cited if the offer is accepted municipal bond dealers can also give out firm with recall or out firm quotes that can be good for roughly the next hour and then recalled a workable indication usually a one sided quote that is either a bid price or an asked price municipal bonds typically are priced on a yield to maturity basis rather than a dollar price if a dealer gives a workable indication like i last saw this issue being offered at around 3 50 they re saying they might sell the bond at a price that would result in its yield to maturity being 3 5 