The tech market has shown many signs of life recently, leading many investors -- myself included -- to believe that the worst is over. Today, we have three fresh pieces of evidence to support this thesis.

First, semiconductor titan Texas Instruments (NYSE:TXN) took an already rosy view of the ongoing quarter and raised it to high heaven:

 

Original Guidance

Updated Guidance

Q3 2008 Results

Revenue

$2.5 billion to $2.8 billion

$2.73 billion to $2.87 billion

$3.39 billion

Earnings per Share

$0.29 to $0.39

$0.37 to $0.41

$0.43

The mere fact that TI is raising both sales and earnings expectations shows that the quarter is proceeding better than management originally thought. The bottom line could nearly reach pre-crash levels again even though revenue will fall a bit short. This means that we're looking at a leaner, meaner TI today with a tighter grip on its cost structure. That's a great position to be in when sales do rebound to their old levels.

Second, the infrastructure that powers the chip industry is improving too. Semiconductor lithography expert ASML Holding (NASDAQ:ASML) raised its guidance 11% to "above 500 million Euros [About $725 million]" with future order bookings "significantly above that level."

Texas Instruments is one of ASML's largest customers, so the trickle-down effect is evident here. The company also provides chip-making equipment to other industry leaders like Korean everything-techie Samsung and outsourcing manufacturer Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM). ASML's management credits strong orders from the computer memory and logic processors of the kind for which TI and Samsung are famous.

And third, there's great news from a giant further down the technology food chain: Storage systems specialist EMC (NYSE:EMC) sees a slow but steady path to full recovery. CFO David Goulden says that "corporate IT spending is on an upward path," and expects more corporate IT spending in the back half of 2009 than the beginning. And you know what the turtle says about "slow and steady," don't you?

There's actually more good news out there, including higher guidance from smaller TI rivals Altera (NASDAQ:ALTR) and Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP). All told, I thinks it's safe to say that this wave of optimism rests on more than just the annual batch of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) product updates -- we have a real recovery on our hands, and it is not too late to invest accordingly.

Are your tea leaves telling a different story? Share your insights in the comments below.